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Epochs of Ancient History 



EDITED BY 



REV. G. W. COX, M.A. and CHARLES SANKEY, M.A. 



THE ROMAN TRIUMVIRATES 



DEAN MERIVALE. 



EPOCHS OF ANCIENT HISTORY. 

Edited by Rev. G. W. Cox and Charles Sanket, M.A. 
Eleven volumes, 16mo, with 41 Maps and Plans. Price per 
vol., $1.00. Theset,E.oxburghstyle,gilttop,inbox,,*11.00. 

v^Troy — Its Legend, History, and Literature. By S. G. W. 
Benjamin. 

vThe Greeks and the Persians. By G. W. Cox. 

v-The Athenian Ennpire. By G. "W. Cox. 

»The Spartan and Theban Suprennacies. By Cbarles Sankey. 

•OThe Macedonian Empire. By A. M. Curteis. 

v Early Ronne. By W. Ihne. 

^ Rome and Carthage. By R. Bosworth Smith. 
*^The Gracchi, Marius and Sulla. By A. H. Beesley. 

■/The Roman Triumvirates By Charles Merivale. 

•'The Early Empire. By W. Wolfe Capes. 

vThe Age of the Antonines. By W. Wolfe Capes. 

EPOCHS OF MODERN HISTORY. 

Edited by Edward E. Morbts. Eigliteen volumes, 16mo, 
with 77 Maps, Plans, and Tables. Price per vol., $1.00. 
The set, Roxburgh style, gilt top, in box, $18.00. 
n"he Beginning of the iVliddle Ages. By R. W. Church. 
''The Normans in Europe. By A. H. Johnson. 
«-'The Crusades. By G. W. Cox. 
^The Early Planta^enets By Wm. Stubbs. 
.€dward III. By W. Warburton. 

•'The Houses of Lancaster and Yorl<. By James Gairdner. 
w-The Era of the Protestant Revolution. By Frederic Seebohm. 
r'The Early Tudors. By C. E. Mobeily. 
^TheAgeof Elizabeth. By M. Creighton. 
.^The Thirty Years' War, 1618-1648. By S. R. Gardiner. 
s-The Puritan Revolution. By S. R. Gardiner. 
^■The Fall of the Stuarts. By Edward Hale. 

The English Restoration and Louis XIV. By Osmund Airy. 

The Age of Anne. By Edward E. Morris. 
^The Early Hanoverians By Edw;trd E. Morris. 
■^Frederick the Great. By F. W. Longman. 

The French Revolution and First Empire. By W. O'Connor 
Morris. Appendix by Andrew D. White. 
»The Epoch of Reform, 1830-1850. By Justin Macarthy. 



A 



o c. 



go 



EPOCHS OF ANCIENT HISTORY 



THE 

ROMAN TRIUMVIRATES 

BY 

CHARLES MERIVALR D.D. 

DEAN OF ELY 



WITH A MAP 



NEW YORK; 

CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, 

1889. 



MAY 2 7 1904 



.JV\53 



ansf er *' 

jf C&L 

1 f EH 1905 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 



THE REACTION AGAINST SULLA'S LEGISLATION. —RISE OF 

POMPEIUS. 
r.c. 

Working of the Roman republican constitution 

Results of the Punic and Social wars 

Monarchical power of Sulla . . . 

Sulla and the Roman aristocracy 

Sulla's idea of his own work 

Results of Sulla's career . . • . 

Effects of Roman conquests 

Results of the extension of the franchise . 

Growth of a military order 

Roman jealousy of provincials . . . 

Character of the Roman legionaries . 

Early career of Pompeius, surnamed the Great 

The consulship of Catulus and Lepidus 

Death of Lepidus ..... 

Sertorius in Spain ..... 

Death of Sertorius and its consequences 

The Servile war of Spartacus 

The Mithridatic war .... 

Defeat of Mithridates .... 
69 Armenian war ...... 



PAGE 

I 

2 
2 

3 
4 
5 
5 
6 
8 
9 

9 
10 

12 
13 
13 
15 

16 
18 
20 
21 



VI 



Contents. 



CHAPTER II. 



ASCENDENCY OF POMPEIUS. — HIS SUBJUGATION OF THE CILICIAN 
PIRATES, AND CONQUESTS IN THE EAST, 

B.C. PAGE 

24 
26 
27 
29 

30 



Popularity of Pompeius ..... 

Purging of the senate by the censors . 

Extent of piracy in the Mediterranean 

The Gabinian law ...... 

67 Success of Pompeius against the Cilician pirates 

Investment of Pompeius with supreme command 
the East . . . , . 

Effects of Roman ascendency in the East 
63 Overthrow and death of Mithridates . 

Extent of Roman supremacy in the East 

C. Julius Caesar .... 

Motions of the tribune Cornelius 

Caesar's aedileship 
65 Caesar impeaches Rabirius 
63 Caesar chief pontiff .... 



in 



31 
ZZ 
34 
35 
36 

39 
41 
42 



CHAPTER III. 

STATE OF PARTIES IN THE CITY.— CONSULSHIP OF CICERO, AND 
CONSPIRACY OF CATILINA. 



Leaders of the nobles 
M. Porcius Cato 
M. Tullius Cicero 
Conspiracy of Catilina 
63 Cicero becomes consul 

Preparations of the conspirators 
The conspiracy detected . 
Catilina driven out of Rome 



43 
44 
46 

47 
48 

49 
51 
52 



Contents. 



vu 



The conspirators betrayed and arrested 

The conspirators condemned by the senate 

Their execution .... 

62 Defeat and death of Catilina 

Cicero in controversy with Cato 
62 Intrigues and disturbances in the city 

Cicero takes his part with the oligarchy 

Crassus purchases the alliance of Caesar 

61 Clodius profanes the mysteries of the Bona Dea 

62 Policy of Pompeius on his return to Rome 
61 Triumph of Pompeius .... 
60 Pompeius becomes unpopular with the senate and the 

people ........ 



53 
54 
56 
56 
58 
59 
61 
62 

63 
64 

66 
66 



CHAPTER IV. 



THE FIRST TRIUMVIRATE OF C^SAR, POMPEIUS, AND CRASSUS. 

Caesar in his province, the Further Spain . . .67 

60 Caesar sues for the consulship 69 

Caesar reconciles Crassus and Pompeius . . .70 

60 The First Triumvirate 70 

Views of the triumvirs respectively . . . .71 

The leaders of the nobles 72 

Cicero and Cato 73 

Caesar attains the consulship 74 

59 Caesar's violent measures in the consulship . . 75 

Caesar's favor with the people . . . . . 7^ 
Precarious position of Cicero . » . . ■> 7^ 
Ambitious policy of Caesar . .... 77 

Illyricum, with the Cisalpine and Transalpine Gaul, 

assigned to Caesar for his province for five years . 79 

58 Clodius, the tribune, threatens Cicero with impeach- 
ment ......... 80 



viii CoJttents. 



BC 



PAGB 

58 Clodius obtains the banishment of Cicero . . .81 
Cato appointed to a dishonorable mission against the 

king of Cyprus 83 

The triumvirs combine to put down Clodius and recall 

Cicero from banishment ?>'i 

57 Return of Cicero 85 



CHAPTER V. 

C/ESAR'S conquest of GAUL.— death OF CRASSUS AND DISSO- 
LUTION OF THE FIRST TRIUMVIRATE. 

Cgesar's conquest of Gaul ...... 86 

5S Cresar's first campaign . . . ^ . . 87 

He checks the movement of the Helvetii . . .88 
Repulses the Suevi ....... 88 

Cossar's second campaign against the Belgic tribes . 89 
Third campaign against the Veneti . . . .89 

55 Fourth campaign : crossing of the Rhine and invasion 

of Britain ........ 89 

Second descent on Britain ...... 89 

Caesar concerts with the triumvirs at Lucca . . 90 

57 An extraordinary commission assigned to Pompeius . 91 

56 Proposed restoration of the king of Egypt . . .91 
Disturbances in the city . , . . . .92 

56 Caesar again at Lucca. Impending crisis of the free- 
state ......... 92 

54 Caesar's command extended for a second term of five 

years 93 

Death of Julia 94 

54 Relative position of the triumvirs at this period . . 95 

54 Ciassus proconsul in Syria ..... 95 

53 Battle of Carrhx 96 



Contents. 



IX 



53 Caesar's peril in Gaul : sixth year of the Gallic war 

Ascendency of Pompeius in the senate 
52 Mile slays Clodius 
52 Pompeius appointed sole consul 

Trial of Milo .... 
52 Seventh year of the Gallic war . 

Gallant resistance of Vercingetorix 
51 Final conquest of Gaul 

Feeble measures of Pompeius . 

Caesar's organization of Gaul 

Caesar organizes his military resources in Gaul 

Csesar's levies in Gaul .... 



97 
98 

99 
99 

lOI 

102 
103 
104 
104 
106 
106 
108 



CHAPTER VI. 



RUPTURE BETWEEN C^SAR AND THE SENATE 

Csesar's position assailed by the senatorial party 
51 Cicero proconsul of Cilicia 

Caesar secures support by bribery 

The senate strengthen their military resources 
50 Curio baffles the motion for Caesar's recall . 
50 Pompeius falls sick at Naples . . 

Csesar's demands 

Vacillation of the senate . 

Curio urges Caesar to decisive action 
49 The tribunes fly to Caesar's camp 

Caesar appeals to arms 

Lucan's estimate of the causes of the civil war 

Division of sovereignty among the three rulers 

Rivalry of Pompeius and Caesar 

Luxury and vices of the times . 

Monarchy a consummation plainly inevitable 



109 
no 
112 

113 

114 

116 
117 
118 
119 
121 
122 
123 
123 
124 
125 
125 



Contents. 

FAGK 

Sentiments conveyed in " Sallust's letters to Caesar " . 127 
Caesar's pretensions regarded with favor by provincials, 

subjects, and foreigners . . . . .128 

Caesar on his return to Italy . . . . .129 



CHAPTER VII. 



THE CIVIL WAR.— BATTLE OF PHARSALIA. — DEATH OF POM 
PEIUS. — DEATH OF CATO. 



Preparations of Pompeius and the consuls . 

Caesar crosses the Rubicon 

Fompeius retires from Rome 

The cities of Central Italy surrender to Caesar 

Pompeius makes his escape from Italy 

Pompeius throws himself on his resources in the East 

Caesar repairs to Rome .... 

Caesar seizes the treasure in the temple of Saturn 

Curio is slain in Africa .... 

Caesar conquers the Pompeian forces in Spain 

Caesar is created dictator . 

Importance of his fiscal measures 

Caesar establishes regular government and then ab 
dicates ...... 

48 Caesar crosses the Adriatic 

Csesar checked before Petra 

Both armies manaeuvre in Thessaly 
48 Battle of Pharsalia . . . . 

The loss on both sides .... 

Pompeius seeks refuge in Egypt, and is there 
dered 

Caesar establishes himself at Alexandria 
47 Campaign against Phamaces 



130 

131 
132 
132 

133 
134 

135 
136 

137 

137 
139 
139 

140 
141 
142 

143 
143 
144 

145 
146 

147 



Contents. xi 



Disturbances in Italy .... 

47 Csesar dictator a second time 
46 Csesar at Rome and third time dictator 

Mutiny of the Tenth Legion suppressed 

The republicans transfer their forces to Africa 
46 Caesar's victory at Thapsus 

Death of Cato at Utica .... 

Character of Cato of Utica 



CHAPTER VIII. 

TYRANNY AND DEATH OF C^SAR. 

Honors conferred upon Caesar at Rome 

The title of Imperator prefixed .... 

Csesar celebrates four triumphs .... 

Csesar's liberality to soldiers and citizens . 

The Julian Forum ...... 

45 War in Spain and battle of Munda . 

The Roman Calendar requires correction . 

The reformed or Julian Calendar 

Measures for extending the franchise, increasing the 
senate, &c. ... 

Appointment to offices ..... 

Csesar founds colonies ..... 

Further projects. Survey of the empire 

Codification of the law ..... 

Csesar projects the extension of the walls, &c. . . 

Abortive attempts to give Csesar the title of king 

Conspiracy against Csesar ..... 
44 C^sar assassinated, March 15 .... 

Remarks on the character of Julius Csesar . 



148 
149 
150 
150 
151 
153 
154 
155 



157 
159 
160 
161 
162 
163 
164 
166 

16^) 
167 
168 
169 
169 
170 
171 
171 

173 

175 



Xll 



Contents. 



CHAPTER IX. 



CAIUS OCTAVIUS SUCCEEDS TO THE INHERITANCE 

C^SAR. 

B.C. 

Antonius makes his escape 

Antonius seized on Caesar's papers and effects 

Antonius as consul convenes the senate 

An amnesty decreed, March 17 

Antonius master of the situation 

Caesar's funeral .... 

Popular excitement against the liberators 

M. Antonius takes command in the city 

" The tyranny still survives " . 
44 C. Octavius arrives in Italy 

He assumes Caesar's inheritance 
44 Cicero declaims against Antonius 



OF JULIUS 



PAGE 
178 
179 
179 
180 
181 
181 
182 

183 
184 
184 
185 
188 



CHAPTER X. 



THE SECOND TRIUMVIRATE : OCTAVIUS, ANTONIUS, AND LEPIDUS. 



44 Octavius ingratiates himself with the soldiers 

General preparations for war in the north of Italy 
Cicero's political activity ..... 

44 The Second Philippic 

43 The consuls Hiriius and Pansa take the field 

43 Both the consuls fall before Mutina . 

Antonius unites with Lepidus and Plancus 

43 Octavius demands the consulship 
Flight and death of Decimus Brutus . 

43 The Second Triumvirate ..... 
Division of the provinces among the triumvirs , 
The proscriptions 



190 
191 
192 

193 
194 

19s 

196 

197 
198 
199 
201 
202 



Contents. xiii 

B.C. PAGE 

43 Death of Cicero . . . . . . . 202 

Reflections on the death of Cicero .... 204 

42 Settlement of the triumvirs' g(jvernment at Rome . 205 



CHAPTER XI. 

LAST EFFORT OF THE REPURLICANS : THE BATTLE OF PHILIPPI. 

Independence of the Roman armies in the East . . 206 
Roman society at Athens ...... 207 

The natural repulsion of the Ea^t from the West . 208 

Meeting of Brutus and Cassius at Sardis . . . 209 

42 The battle of Philippi 210 

Death of Cassius . . . . . . .211 

Second battle, and death of Brutus . . . .212 

The end of the Roman republic .... 213 



CHAPTER XII. 

CONTEST BETWEEN OCTAVIUS AND ANTONIUS. — BATTLE OF 
ACTIUM. — OCTAVIUS BECOMES MASTER OF THE STATE. 

42 Further division of the provinces .... 214 

Cleopatra's conquest of Antonius .... 215 

War of Perusia . . . . . . . .216 

A third partition of the empire . . . . .217 

The triumvirs concert terms with Sextus and again 

resort to arms against him . . . . .218 

37 Battle of Naulochus 219 

37 Renewal of the triumvirate . . . . .219 

36 Fall of Lepidus . 219 

36 Disastrous campaign of Antonius against the Parthians 220 



XIV 



Contents. 



Impending rupture between the triumvirs . 

33 Antonius amuses himself at Alexandria 

33 Preparations for a struggle 

32 The triumvirate expires and is not renewed 

31 Forces assembled on the coast of Epirus . 

31 Battle of Actium ..... 
Octavius secures the fruit of his ^^ctory 
Despair of Antonius and Cleopatra at Alexandria 
Antonius kills himself .... 
Death of Cleopatra . 
Concluding remarks ..... 

Chronological Table 



Index 



FAGB 
221 

222 
222 
224 
225 
225 
226 
227 
228 
229 
, 230 

243 



MAP. 



\ The Roman Empire at the close of the Republic. 

To face Title- page 



THE 



ROMAN TRIUMVIRATES. 



CHAPTER I. 



THE REACTION AGAINST SULLA'S LEGISLATION. — RISE 
OF POMPEIUS. 

The Roman republic maintained itself for a period of 
nearly five hundred years ; and this has been commonly 
regarded as a striking instance of the vitality 

/-/-••• T-> . 1 • 1 Working 

of free institutions. But such an idea can of the 
only be admitted with much abatement. ^bHc^n^" 
The polity of the conquering city was in fact constim- 
ill-fitted for duration, for it was essentially 
the government of the many by the few, of a common- 
alty by a nobility, of an unarmed multitude by an armed 
order, of subjects in many lands by their victors in one 
central position. It was only by the happy circum- 
stances under which the lower classes were from time to 
time elevated, in spite of all resistance, into the ranks of 
the governors, that this inequality was not redressed by 
violence, and the commonwealth overthrown by revolu- 
tion. It was only by the occasional suppression of the 
free state, and the creation of a temporary dictator, that 



2 2he Roman Triumvirates. ch. i. 

the balance of power was at many a critical moment 
maintained. 

When the conquering race at Rome had made itself 
master of Italy, and a single state held sway over a 
^ , , , number of subject communities, the time 

Results of the -' , ' 

Punic and was almost come for the appointment of a 

permanent ruler. Probably the rivalry of 
Carthage and the invasion of Hannibal, by drawing 
all classes at Rome, and most of her allies and depen- 
dents, more closely together, postponed the inevitable 
event. After the fall of Hannibal and Carthage the 
ascendency of the Scipios, first in war, first in peace, 
first in the hearts of their countrymen, seemed to point 
more clearly to such a solution. Once more the wars in 
the East, and the brilliant conquests of Greece and Asia, 
diverted men's thoughts to new aspirations, and the era 
of monarchy was not yet. Under the Gracchi the spirit 
of impending monarchy again loomed visibly ; again the 
struggle of the Social War averted the consummation. 
From this time the Roman constitution was proved to be 
impracticable. It would not work. The sovereign 
power was disputed openly between the leaders of two 
rival armies, who barely deigned to avow themselves 
the heads of two domestic parties. 

When Sulla gained the ascendency, he made himself 

a king under the title of perpetual dictator. He resigned 

this power, indeed, but he had not the less 

Monarchical , . , . _ ... 

power of made It his own. It was his smgular ambi- 

tion to re-establish the free state by personal 
caprice and open force, and to found a republican con- 
stitution upon a monarchical revolution. He failed. The 
fabric he set up was a mere shadow, which hardly for a 
moment disguised the fact that the real government of 
Rome must henceforth rest in the hands of her strongest 



CH. I. Abdication of Sulla. 3 

citizen. The history of the Roman Triumvirates is the 
history of the brief interval during which this shadow of 
a free state still hovered before men's eyes, while the 
permanent establishment of imperial sovereignty was 
only delayed by the nearly equal forces of the chiefs who 
contended for it. Sixteen years after the death of Sulla 
the governm-ent was virtually shared between three mili- 
tary rulers, who formed what has been called the First 
Triumvirate. Seventeen years later a similar compact 
was renewed, and more definite powers were assumed, 
by a second Triumvirate. Thirteen years later the com- 
monwealth of Rome had fallen actually under the sway 
of a single despot, who styled himself emperor. The 
period of which the following chapters treat comprises 
forty-six years, from the death of Sulla to the crowning 
victory of Augustus. 

Sulla could have given no greater proof of confidence 
in the stability of his work than by abdicating his per- 
sonal power, and leaving the commonwealth to be 
guided by the political principles he had ^ ,, 

"^ . . Sulla t.nd 

established. He believed that an oligarchy the Roman 
of wealth and station could govern Rome, ^"^ ocracy. 
and maintain the position in which he had replaced it. 
It was sufficient in his view to launch the Optimate?>, the 
self-styled best or noblest, of the city freely on the career 
which he had opened for them, by suppressing the rival 
powers of the tribunate, and making them supreme in the 
comitia, uncheciced in the administration of the pro- 
vinces, and commanders of the national armies. He 
was not aware that in fact the authority which he had 
exercised had depended solely on his own personal abil- 
ity, and that the aristocracy had no vital force of its own 
to make use of the high position he had regained for it. 
It had indeed no hold upon the nation, no confidence in 

B 



4 The Roman Triumviraies. CH. i. 

itself; it was at the moment singularly deficient in men 
of commanding eminence. It had in fact survived its 
vital powers, and the forces which had grown up around 
it both in the city and the provinces had already passed 
bevond its proper control. Sulla Avas himself a man of 
extraordinary genius. He had been backed by an irre- 
sistible militar}^ force, and he had encountered the pop- 
ular party at a moment when it was demoralized by its 
own bloody excesses. But it was only under these ex- 
ceptional circumstances that the aristocracy had gained 
a transient success. It was unable to maintain its van- 
tage ground. The abdication of Sulla may have has- 
tened its fall, but the fall was from the first inevitable. 

The great dictator had relied also upon the principles 
of Roman polity, which he considered himself to have 
re-established. Sulla was not the last, nor, perhaps, was 
^ „ , , he the first of the Romans who imagined 

Sulla s idea 

of his own that he could restore the commonwealth, 
and replace it upon a lasting foundation, by 
arresting its natural course of development, and forcing 
it back into the channel which had proved too narrow 
for it. He dreamt that the provinces, now widely ex- 
tended through three continents, peopled by numerous 
colonies of Roman extraction, teeming with the interests 
of a multitude of Roman citizens engaged in every 
branch of art and commerce, could be held in hand by 
an official oligarchy of public men, as in the old days 
when the dominions of the republic were all comprised 
within a circle of a few days' journey from the city. 
His thoughts reverted to the period when the plebeians 
of Rome were really inferior in rank and power to the 
patricians, when they were regarded and treated as of 
lower origin, and their pretensions to equal privileges 
scouted with disdain. He would deny them the pro- 



CH. I. Need of a Commander-in- Chief. 5 

tection of their tribunes now, when they had become 
substantially the ruling power in the state, and it was 
through the tribunes that their power was exercised. 
Sulla was a fanatic. He believed in his own good 
fortune ; he believed in the fortune of Rome. He 
was ready to pit Rome and himself against the world. 
He entertained no doubt that Rome, restored to the po- 
litical condition in which, in his view, she had been 
most prosperous, and restored under his own victorious 
auspices, was destined to control all the changes of cir- 
cumstance around her, and rise triumphant over every for- 
eign or domestic enemy. The notion that Sulla resigned 
his power in petulance, or in despair of establishing the 
reactionary policy to which he had devoted himself, 
seems to be founded in an entire misconception of his 
character. He was a fanatic, and he abdicated in sublime 
complacency at the enduring success which he fully be- 
lieved himself to have achieved. 

The work effected by the great dictator 

•' ,^ Results of 

did in fact lay the foundation of the long Sulla's 
civil wars and the political revolutions which 
followed. 

I. The definite establishment of the Roman power 
throughout Greece and Mac(idonia- and a great part of 
Asia Minor, by the victories of their great military leader, 
rendered it necessary to maintain a large 

^ ^ Effects of 

standmg army permanently quartered at a Roman con- 
distance from the capital. This mercenary ^^^^ ^' 
force could only be held by one paramount commander, 
and to this generalissimo it was necessary to entrust the 
appointment of every subordinate officer, the power of 
making war or peace along an immense frontier, the 
levying of contributions from a vast array of provinces 
and of dependent states, and to allow him to prolong his 



6 The Roman Triumvirates. ch. i. 

command from year to year almost without reference to 
his legitimate masters in the city. The transfer of such 
a command from one pro-consul to another, accom- 
panied by the displacement of a horde of servants and 
clients, the frustration of sanguine hopes, the excitement 
of irregular ambitions, was in itself a revolution, and 
could hardly fail to lead to a civil war. 

2. The progress of events had hitherto tended to- 
wards the enfranchisement of the provinces, and the as- 
similation of the subjects of the city to her native citizens. 
The Social War had resulted in the admission of the 
free population of all Italy to the civil rights of the 
Romans. A precedent had been set which could not 

fail to be followed, and which must even- 
Results of the 
extensi n of tually lead to the nicorporation of the whole 

the iranchise. c . . , . t^.- i i j 

mass of provincials in one political body. 
The right indeed of voting at the elections of magistrates 
was still practically restricted to the citizens who resided 
at the centre of affairs, for there was no more sacred 
principle among the Romans than that of confining all 
civil transactions to the very spot on which the auspices 
could be taken, which was itself at the centre of the city. 
But the Roman franchise entitled its possessor to a share 
in the functions of general administration. It was slowly 
and gradually that the Italians and other foreign citizens 
obtained a footing oh the ladder of civic honors ; but 
under the command of the Roman Proconsul and Im- 
perator they engrossed a large part of the military appoint- 
ments throughout the provinces, together with all the 
fiscal employments. The knights, whether of Roman 
or Italian origin, became largely interested in commerce, 
and settled abroad in the pursuit of wealth, placing their 
local knowledge and their cajiital at the service of the 
government in the farming of its revenues and manage- 



CH. I. Enfranchisement of Provincials. 7 

ment of its resources. Not only were the provincials 
thus placed at the mercy of the military establishment 
of their conquerors, but all the most lucrative employ- 
ments among them were seized by financial agents of 
the central government. Roman citizens fastened them- 
selves upon every limb of the great body of the empire, 
and sucked its blood at every pore. It only remained 
to secure the fruits of these exclusive privileges, and to 
invest the enjoyment of them with practical irresponsi- 
bility. When the provinces complained of the oppres- 
sions under which they suffered, they found indeed ready 
ears among the rival parties in the state. Every pro- 
consul and every subordinate agent abroad had his per- 
sonal enemies at home, who were prepared to listen to 
the charges which the sufferers made against them. The 
great object of the class of Optimates was to secure to 
themselves the administration of justice in the city, and 
confine the appointment of judges, in cases of provincial 
malversation, to men of the senatorial order. The com- 
mons, on the other hand, represented for the most part 
by the Equites, or horsemen, the bulk of whom ranked 
with the plebeians, contended for a share in these offices ; 
and one of the most constant and vital contests of 
classes within the city for many years was whether the 
fudicia should be confined to the senators or extended 
to the knights also. Sulla had excluded the lower order 
from any place in this important department of adminis- 
tration. But the provincials chafed under the ascen- 
dency of the Optimates, as that from which they had 
hitherto suffered most sensibly. They were disposed to 
lend their weight to any movement in favor of the ple- 
beian faction at home, which they regarded as more 
favorable to their interests, as less rigid and exclusive 
in its ideas of government, as imbued on the whole with 



8 • The Roman Triumvirates. ch, i. 

the principles of a cosmopolitan policy, and which led 
them to indulge at least in some indefinite hopes ot 
future advantage to themselves. The leaders of the 
popular party at Rome had always shown themselves 
more inclined to favor and employ them than their 
rivals. The popular party had itself owed its rise to 
more liberal principles of government, and as the aris- 
tocrats exhibited under Sulla's supremacy a narrower 
and more selfish spirit than ever, so did the democrats 
rally round themselves all the classes at home and 
abroad which aspired to a fuller enjoyment of Roman 
privileges and advantages. 

3. But under the fair surface of a polity of ranks and 
classes, there had now grown up a power almost inde- 
pendent of nobles and commons, of Romans 
military and provincials. The real control of gov- 

ernment rested with the army. In the con- 
duct of her distant and incessant wars, the republic of 
the Scipios and the Gracchi had created an instrument 
which had become too strong for civil restraints at the 
liands either of the senate or of the popular assemblies. 
The ancient military constitution of Rome had rested 
on the annual enlistment of all its able-bodied citizens 
for the defence of its frontier against enemies who lay 
almost beneath its walls. The Roman legions were a 
militia enrolled practically for home service only. Their 
annual campaigns lasted for a few months, after which 
the soldier-citizen returned to his farm or his counter, 
and received there the solicitations of candidates for the 
next elections. The long wars of Italy, in which the 
Roman people had contended against the Gauls, the 
Samnites, and the Etruscans, against Hannibal and 
Pyrrhus, against the united forces of the Italian nations, 
had compelled their government to enlist its citizens for 



CH. I. Influence of a Standing Ar?ny. 9 

a term of years. The legionary had long ceased to ex- 
ercise his vote in the Campus, and had come to dis- 
regard his civil functions as a citizen, while he looked to 
the profession of arms as the road to emoluments and 
honors, as the object of his pride and interest. He 
had already become a source of danger to the civil gov- 
ernment, when the progress of his conquests removed 
him to distant shores ; and while this distance alienated 
him more and more from his native land, it deprived 
him at least of any immediate means of affronting and 
injuring her. 

As long, indeed, as the legions continued to be sup- 
plied by recruits drawn from Rome herself, or even from 
the Roman colonies in Italy or the neighboring pro- 
vinces, the metropolis might rely with some confidence 
onthedeep-rootedattachmentof her people, _ 

^ . . f f > Roman 

and on the principles of domestic obedience jealousy of 
which the genuine citizen could not without P>^ovmcias, 
difficulty shake off, however far removed from her, how- 
ever long disused to her control. He still prided him- 
self on his connection with the ruling race, and still 
regarded himself as a being of a higher order than the 
Italian or the provincial who served as an auxiliary in 
the cohorts that fought beside him. 

This feeling of pride Marius had materially weakened 
by destroying the distinction of classes, and calling upon 
the proletarians from the lowest order of the ^, 

'■ Character of 

State to assist in her conquests. From the theRom^n 
time of the exhausting wars against the 
Cimbri and the Teutones, the Roman soldier had 
ceased to represent the aristocracy of Rome, and to 
share its prejudices. He had no stake in his own 
country ; he was a man without a country, which, among 
the settled communities of the ancient world, was re- 



lo Tlic Roman Triumviraies. CH. i. 

garded as something strange and portentous. And so, 
indeed, it was a portent of change and revolution, of 
violence and rapine. The Roman legionary, thus drawn 
from the dregs of the populace, and quartered through 
the best years of his life in Greece and Asia, in Spain 
and Gaul, lived solely upon his pay, enhanced by ex- 
tortion or plunder. His thirst of rapine grew upon him. 
He required his chiefs to indulge him with the spoil of 
cities and provinces ; and when a foreign enemy was 
not at hand, he was tempted to turn against the subjects 
of the state, or, if need be, against the state itself. The 
regular military chest was too quickly exhausted by the 
ordinary expenses of the military establishment. Often 
the troops could not even be brought into the field ex- 
cept by the sacrifice of some helpless community, against 
which a quarrel was picked for no other purpose but to 
enable the Imperator to mobilize his legions. But no 
prey was so glittering as Italy and Rome itself; and to- 
wards their own native shores the eyes of the greedy 
le^^ionaries were now too frequently directed, while their 
chiefs were themselves equally eager to strike at the 
centre of government for the highest prizes which the 
republic could bestow. Marius and Sulla, Cinna and 
Carbo had led the forces of Rome against Rome herself, 
in the predatory spirit of the Cimbri and the Teutoncs 
before, of the Goths and the Vandals some centuries 
afterwards. Rome, at the very height of her material 
power, in the full career of her foreign conquests, lay as 
completely at the mercy of the true barbarians of that 
age as when she was helpless to avert the inroads of an 
Alaric or an Attila. 



The problem which thus presented itself 

Early cireer of 
Pompcius s 

Great- ' "^ avert the impending dissolution of their 



Early cireer of • i r • i 

Pompcius sur- to tlic muids of patnots — how, namely, to 



B.C. yS. Chief s of the Senatorial Paiiy . ii 

polity under the blows of their own defenders — was in- 
deed an anxious and might well appear a hopeless 
one. It was to the legions only that they could trust, 
and the legions were notoriously devoted to their chiefs, 
to whom, indeed, they had sworn the military oath, 
rather than to the civil administration and principles of 
law, in which they could take no interest. The triumph 
of Sulla had been secured by the accession to his side of 
Pompeius Strabo, the commander of a large force 
quartered in Italy. These troops had transferred their 
obedience to a younger Pompeius, the son of their late 
leader. Under his auspices they had gained many 
victories ; they had put down the Marian faction, headed 
by Carbo, in Sicily, and had finally secured the ascen- 
dency of the senate on the shores of Africa. Sulla had 
evinced some jealousy of their captain, who was young 
in years, and as yet had not risen above the rank of 
Eques ; but when Pompeius led his victorious legions 
back to Italy, the people rose in the greatest enthusiasm 
to welcome him, and the dictator, yielding to their im- 
petuosity, had granted him a triumph and hailed him 
with the title of " Magnus." Young as he was, he be- 
came at once, on the abdication of Sulla, the greatest 
power in the commonwealth. This he soon caused to 
be known and felt. 

The lead of the senatorial party had now fallen to 
O. Lutatius Catulus and M. y^milius Lepidus, the heads 
of two of the oldest and noblest families of Rome. The 
election of these chiefs to the consulship for ^^^ g^g^ 

the year 676 of the city (b.c. 78) seemed to ^•*=- ^'^^ 

secure for a time the ascendency of the nobles, and the 
maintenance of Sulla's oligarchical constitution be- 
queathed to their care. The death of the retired dic- 
tator, which occurred in the course of the same year, 



1 2 The Rojnan Triumvirates. CH. i. 

was felt perhaps as a relief by the party 
ship of°Ca- ' which he had oppressed with his protection. 
Le"^/"*^ But there were divisions within the party it- 

self which seemed to seize the opportunity for 
iDreaking forth. Lepidus was inflamed with ambition to 
create a faction of his own, and imitate the career of the 
usurpers before him. He had served as an officer under 
Sulla, and had attached to himself a portion of the army. 
His marriage with a daughter of the tribune, Saturninu<=, 
had connected him with the party of Marius. He had 
formed relations with the young Pompeius, through 
whose influence he had acquired the consulship, but 
whose power he now affected to slight. On the death of 
Sulla he had spoken disparagingly of the dictator's ser- 
vices, and threatened to tamper with his enactments. 
But he had miscalculated his strength. Pompeius dis- 
avowed him, and lent the weight of his popularity and 
power to the support of Catulus ; and the senate hoped 
to avert an outbreak by engaging both the consuls by an 
oath to abstain from assailing each other. During the 
remainder of his term of office Lepidus refrained from 
action ; but as soon as he reached his province, the 
Narbonensis in Gaul, he developed his plans, summoned 
to his standard the Marians, who had taken refuge in 
great numbers in that region, and invoked the aid of the 
Italians, with the promise of restoring to them the lands 
of which they had been dispossessed by Sulla's veterans. 
With the aid of M. Junius Brutus, who commanded in 
the Cisalpine, he made an inroad into Etruria, and called 
upon the remnant of its people, who had been decimated 
by Sulla, to rise against the faction of their oppressors. 
The senate, now thoroughly alarmed, charged Catulus 
with its defence ; the veterans, restless and dissatisfied 
with their fields and farms, crowded to the standard of 



B.C. 82-71. Career of Sertoiius. 13 

Pompeius. Two Roman armies met near the Milvian 
bridge, a few miles to the north of the city, and Lepidus 
received a check, which was again and again repeated, 
till he was driven to flee into Sardinia, and there perished 
shortly afterwards of fever, Pompeius pursued Brutus 
into the Cisalpine ; but the senate was satisfied with the 
defeat and death of the first movers of the revolt, and 
abstained from vindictive measures against their fol- 
lowers. The counsels of Catulus, one of the most honor- 
able of the Roman leaders, were always moderate and 
magnanimous. 

The temper of Lepidus, on the other hand, had been 
vain and selfish. He betrayed the party from which he 
had sprung, and violated the oath he had 
taken to it. His birth and station had in- Lepidus. 
spired him with empty hopes, which he had 
neither talents nor influence to realize. His enterprise 
was feeble and ill-concerted, and seems to have been 
precipitated by petulant vexation at the resistance of the 
senate. The wariest of the Marian faction refrained 
from entangling themselves in it. Their cause lost 
nothing by his death. The remnant of his troops was 
carried over to Spain by Perperna, and there swelled 
the forces of an abler leader of the same party, Q. Ser- 
torius. 

This chief, by birth a Sabine, had served under 
Marius against the Cimbri, and in later campaigns in 
Spain had made himself popular with the 
natives of that province. He had kept s^ah""^^" 
himself free from the stain of the proscrip- 
tions, and this was now held as a merit by both the 
rival parties in the state. On the triumph of Sulla he 
had retired from Italy, and while he despaired of restor- 
ing the fortunes of the Marians at home, had sought to 



14 The Roman Triumvirates. ch. i. 

fortify an asylum for them among the yet untamed 
inhabitants of the western peninsula. The Iberians 
flocked around him with vague aspirations ; but Sulla 
sent his lieutenant, Annius, in pursuit of him, and drove 
him across the sea into Mauretania. As the brave but 
unsuccessful champion of a long depressed cause, Ser- 
torius assumed a somewhat mythical character in the 
traditions of his party. , It was currently reported that, 
despairing of the fortunes of the Marian faction, he had 
meditated a retreat to the " Islands of the Blest," in tl'^e 
bosom of the Atlantic. But, in fact, he was driven to 
no such extremity. Making himself allies among the 
people of Africa, he defeated the Roman army under 
one of Sulla's lieutenants. The Lusitanians sum- 
moned him again to their aid ; the western tribes of the 
peninsula rose and flocked to his standard. The Sullan 
party in Spain were commanded by Metellus, a weak 
and irresolute leader ; the dictator's abdication and 
death discouraged his followers. Meanwhile Scrtorius 
acted with promptness and vigor. Again and again he 
routed his opponents. He proclaimed the independence 
of the Iberian people, and organized a free state among 
them, with an originality of conception to which Roman 
history offers no parallel. If our accounts are to be 
trusted, he conceived the bold idea of educating the 
youth of Spain in the manners of the Romans, and con- 
stituting a rival republic in the west, to balance the 
conquests of his countrymen beyond the Adriatic. But 
the spirit of Italy, if not of Rome, was still, it seems, 
too strongly rooted in his breast for so monstrous a 
treason. When Pompeius arrived, bringing with him a 
strong reinforcement of exiles from Italy, his plans in- 
sensibly changed. He regarded himself once more as 
the head of a national party ; he placed the interests of 



B.C. 71. Assassination of Sertorius. 15 

his Marian followers in the foreground, and treated the 
natives of the land as allies or subjects. When Mithri- 
dates sought to concert with him a combined attack 
upon the centre of the Roman government from the 
east and from the west, proposing the alliance, as he 
said, of a new Pyrrhus with a new Hannibal, no child of 
a ruling race, no lord of human kind, could brook a 
union so shocking, and he declared that he would never 
suffer a barbarian to set foot on Roman soil. 

Such at least was the legend of Sertorius in the ima- 
gination of his Roman followers. The new chief of the 
Marians stood in need of all the aid they 
could give, of all the glory with which they SenoHus 

could encircle him. The senate took the ^"^^ "^ 'con- 
sequences, 
full measure of his prowess, and sent their 

brave young general, Pompeius, to replace the worn-out 
veteran, Metellus. Yet Pompeius found the encounter 
both difficult and hazardous. He contended with Ser- 
torius in many engagements, in one of which, on the 
banks of the Sucro, he would have suffered grave disas- 
ter but for the opportune assistance of Metellus. Pom- 
peius was reduced to act on the defensive, while he 
called upon the senate for ampler succors. In this strait 
he was relieved more by the defects of his opponent's 
policy than by any vigor or ability of his own, Serto- 
rius, it seems, became inflated with the glory of his un- 
expected successes. He began to despise the simple 
people whom he had deceived by pretending to super- 
natural powers, training a milk-white hind to follow 
him, and affecting to consult it as a familiar spirit. 
When his Roman followers quarrelled with their Span- 
ish auxiliaries, he sacrificed his new to his older adhe- 
rents, and even permitted the massacre of the children 
of their chiefs, whom he had kept as hostages under 



1 6 The Roman Triumvirates, cii. i. 

pretence of educating them. From this time there was 
no union between the diverse elements of his power ; he 
enjoyed no security even from the intrigues of his 
Roman Heutenants. Perperna raised a mutiny in his 
camp, and effected his assassination. But this upstart 
lacked ability to maintain the post he had seized. 
Pompeius, with fresh forces, resumed the attack, 
speedily overcame his adversary, and put him to death. 
The chief of the senatorial party now filled the pro- 
vince wdth his steadiest adherents, and organized 
the peninsula as a fortress of the Roman oligarchy. 
Returning to the city through the south of Gaul, he con- 
firmed the Narbonensis and the Provincia in their alle- 
giance to the same dominant faction, and secured to its 
interests the whole of the Roman domin- 
B. c. 71. ^* \ov^s in the west. The senate exulted in the 

solid conquest which it had thus effected, 
and accorded to its champion, yet young and unenno- 
bled, the honor of a triumph, in which MetcUus w-as al- 
lowed to participate, as a tribute to his rank rather than 
as a reward for his services. 

Pompeius had thus recovered a great province for the 
republic at the moment when it seemed on the point of 
being lost through the inefficiency of one of the senato- 
rial chiefs. Another leader of the dominant party was 
_ ^ . about to yield him another victory. A war 

Th» Servile •' ■' 

■< ar of was raging in the heart of Italy. A body of 

. p.r acus. gladiators had broken away from their con- 
finement at Capua under the lead of Spartacus, a Thra- 
cian captive, had seized a large quantity of arms, and 
had made themselves a retreat or place of defence in 
the crater of Mount Vesuvius. There they had gathered 
around them the fugitive slaves and banditti of the dis- 
trict, and had assumed an attitude of open defiance to 



B.C. 7 1- The Ouibreak of Spartacus. 17 

the cTovernment. The troops of the repub- 

, , T 1 • ,. ^1 ^1, U.C. 681. 

lie had been directed a^^ainst them ; they ^.c. 73. 

had defeated the prsetor, C. Clodius, and 
strengthened themselves with additional succors. The 
veterans of Sulla, quartered in central Italy, were rest- 
less, and threatened to quit the farms, of which they 
were weary, and rush to the plunder of the cities. In 
the course of three years the iorces of Spartacus had in- 
creased to 40,000, or, according to some writers, even to 
100,000 men. He had sacked some of the principal 
places in Campania, and rendered himself virtually 
master of the southern half of the peninsula. But the 
native races of Italy shrank from the contact of slaves 
and brigands ; and when he found that he could not 
raise a national revolt against Rome, he knew that his 
cause was desperate, and exhorted his followers to em- 
ploy all their strength in bursting the barrier of the Alps, 
and dispersing themselves among the northern provinces, 
from which they had been for the most part drawn. 
Meanwhile his tumultuous bands were intoxicated with 
their successes and ravenous for further plunder. They 
continued to ravage the country on all sides. The con- 
suls were directed to lead the legions against 
them, but were ignominiously defeated. In b'c. 72' 
the absence of Pompeius in Spain and of 
Lucullus in the East, M. Crassus was the most prominent 
among the chiefs of the party in power. This illustrious 
noble was a man of great influence, acquired more by 
his wealth, for which he obtained the surname of Dives, 
than for any marked ability in the field or in the forum ; 
but he had a large following of clients and dependents, 
who helped to raise him to the first place in the city, and 
who now swelled the cry for placing a powerful force 
under his orders, and entrusting to his hands the deliv- 



i8 The Roman T?'iu/nvirates. ch. i. 

erance of Italy. The brigands themselves were becom- 
ing demoralized by lack of discipline. Crassus drove 
them before him to the extremity of the peninsula. At 
Rhegium they bargained with a fleet of Cilician pirates 
for a passage into Sicily, but they were betrayed and 

disappointed by these treacherous allies, 
B.C. 71.^ ^^*^ Spartacus could only save a remnant of 

them by furiously breaking through the lines 
of his assailants. This brave gladiator was still formi- 
dable, and it was feared that Rome itself might be ex- 
posed to his desperate attack. The senate sent impor- 
tunate messages to recall both Pompeius and LucuUus to 
its defence. Crassus, on his part, bitterly regretting the 
supineness with which he had suffered the enemy to es- 
cape from his own hands to fall into the hands of his 
rivals, exerted himself to anticipate their return. He 
confined Spartacus to the mountains, but was still una- 
ble to reduce him. The conqueror of Sertorius had 
completed the pacification of Spain ; he hastened back 
to Italy, traversed the country with speed, and took from 
Crassus the forces with which he had failed to secure 
the victory. Spartacus had now become an easy prey, 
and the laurels were quickly won with wh'ch Pompeius 
was honored by his partial countrymen. Crassus was 
deeply mortified, and the senate itself might feel some 
alarm at the redoubled triumphs of a champion of whose 
loyalty it was not secure. 

But the senatorial party had yet another leader, and 
a man of more ability than Crassus, at the head of 

another army. The authority of Pompeius 
Hdatk'war. '" ^^^ westcm provinces was balanced in 

the East by that r,f L, Licinius Lucullus, who 
commanded the forces of the republic in the struggle 
which she was still maintaining against Mithridatcs. 



B.C. 74-63. Successes of Lucullus. 19 

The power of Rome both in Greece and Asia had been 
in jeopardy for many years under the attacks with which 
it had been assailed by the brave and pohtic king of 
Pontus. Stunned by the blows he had received from 
Sulla, this indomitable Asiatic had risen again and defied 
the valor and discipline of the legions. But the existence 
of so formidable an enemy had furnished the senate 
with an excuse for maintaining an immense force in the 
eastern provinces, and putting it under the command 
of the ablest general it could select from its own ranks, 
to be a bulwark of his party as well as of the common- 
wealth. Lucullus, who had been deputed to this im- 
portant post, was held in high repute as an officer, at 
the same time that his wealth, birth, and talents gave 
him an eminent position in civil affairs. 
He had obtained the consulship in the year bc 74° 
74, during the progress of the war with Ser- 
torius. He had quitted the city when the tribunes, with 
the support of the other consul, Cotta, were moving the 
abrogation of the Sullan (or Cornelian) laws, and had 
undertaken the command of the large army which Sulla 
had left in the East as an instrument for maintaining the 
ascendency of the oligarchical government. Lucullus 
was faithful to his party, but he was content to serve its 
interests at a distance from the centre of civil strife. He 
was well acquainted with the theatre of events in the 
East, having acted as an officer under Sulla in some 
previous campaigns, and having distinguished himself 
for activity and military prowess. He had then followed 
his chief to Rome, but had arrived there after the era of 
the proscriptions, so that his popularity with the citizens 
was not affected by the stain of bloodshed. He was a 
man of refined tastes, which had suffered no debasement 
from the rude manners of the en mo. He professed a 



20 The Roman Triuinvirates. ch. i. 

taste for letters, and cultivated the Greek manners, 
which, in a few superior natures at least, were beginning 
to elevate the Roman character to its highest pitch of 
combined gracefulness and vigor. In every respect 
Lucullus was worthy to assume the chief place in the 
direction of the senatorial party, and it might be ex- 
pected that, by the command of the most powerful 
division of the national armies, he would secure to that 
party the continuance of its authority. 

The military successes of Lucullus fully justified the 
choice of the government. Mithridates had recovered 
from the check he had recently received ; and though 
his advances for aid to Tigranes, the powerful king of 
Armenia, met with a cold reception, he had been 
enabled to recruit his forces and carry his arms through 
the regions of Bithynia and Phrygia, and had encamped 
before Chalcedon, opposite to the coast of 
Mithridates Thracc. Here he was besieging the Roman 
general Cotta ; and though his troops were, 
for the most part, commanded by Greek officers, he was 
ill-provided with the materials or the skill for reducing a 
well-fortified and well-defended citadel. Lucullus, re- 
linquishing the easy task of overrunning the provinces 
which the invader had left behind him, determined to 
succor the garrisons still in his front, and succeeded, 
by skilful and cautious manoeuvres, in reducing the 
cumbrous host of his opponent to straits by famine, 
.vhile he refused to encounter it in open battle. Chal- 
cedon was relieved ; Mithridates M-ithdrcw from before 
it, but only to make another attack upon the stronghold 
of Cyzicus. Here again Lucullus adopted 
Bc. 73.* '^'^ previous tactics, and here, too, he com- 

pelled the enemy to abandon his position 
after suffering severe losses. The king of Pontus effected 



B.C. 69. Battle of Tigranoccrfa. 21 

his own escape by sea, leaving his army to be harassed 
and finally routed. He was now driven to take refuge 
with the king of Armenia. Thither LucuUus followed 
him, but not till he had devoted himself to the resto- 
ration of the Roman power throughout the Lesser Asia, 
and had placed the inhabitants under a milder rule than 
that which they had lately endured at the hands of the 
Roman officials. He was animated by an honest sense 
of justice, and the check he put upon the fiscal tyranny 
of the government made him many enemies both in the 
province and in the city. The senate began to find that 
however successful their general might be in the field, 
his civil administration was calculated to weaken rather 
than to confirm their ascendency. At the same time, 
the party of the knights and of the commons was stead- 
ily regaining its due weight in the counsels of the re- 
pubhc. The people, encouraged underhand by Pom- 
peius, by Crassus, and by other chiefs in whom the sen- 
ate had hitherto confided, were bent upon restoring the 
powers of the tribunate, and overthrowing the insti- 
tutions of the late dictator. The support which the sen- 
ate now gave to LucuUus was more lukewarm than at 
first ; but he had by this time established his authority 
throughout the province, and continued to carry out his 
plans for the slow but effectual suppression of all oppo- 
sition both at home and abroad. 

The kingdom of Armenia under Tigranes IIL was 
at the height of its power when Clodius, the brother-in- 
law of LucuUus, then serving under him, was despatched 
to the royal residence at Tigranocerta to demand the 
surrender of Mithridates. Tigranes had broken the rival 
monarchy of Parthia, from which the Greek dynasty 
of the Seleucides had been previously ex- 
pelled. He had wrested from it the north- war. 



2 2 27ie Roman T?'iiunviratcs. CH. i. 

v.c. 635. ern districts of Mesopotamia, and had taken 

B.C 69. . . . , , 

vigorous measures for mcreasing the wealth 

of his people by engaging many intelligent Greeks and 
Syrians in his service. He was the most powerful des- 
pot of the East ; his court was attended by a crowd of 
vassal princes, and four kings, it was said, ran beside 
his chariot. He had assumed the title of king of kings, 
borne of old by the despots of Persia, which the Parthian 
monarch pretended to inherit from them. He had con- 
descended to receive Mithridates as a suppliant, though 
when in power the king of Pontus had given him scanty 
support. It was thus that the Romans were enabled to 
deal with the two greatest powers of Asia separately and 
in detail. Lucullus could act both witii boldness and 
with caution. In the campaign on which he now en- 
tered, vigor and promptitude were essential. The capi- 
tal of Armenia was well defended by its position among 
the mountains and the length and severity of its winter 
season. It was necessary to strike once for all. Lucullus 
had a small, but well-trained and well-appointed army 
of veterans. Tigraues surrounded and encumbered 
himself with a vast cloud of undisciplined barbarians, 
the flower of whom, consisting of 17,000 mailed cavalry, 
however formidable in appearance, made but a feeble 
resistance to the dint of the Roman spear and broad- 
sword. When their ranks were broken they fell back 
upon the inert masses behind them, and threw them 
into hopeless confusion. Tigranes made his escajie 
with dastardly precipitation. A bloody massacre en- 
sued, the Romans losing, as was pretended, five men 
only, while of the enemy loo.ooo, we are told, were left 
dead on the field. 

In the following year Lucullus advanced his posts 
still further eastward. He intrigued with the kini: of 



B.C. 67. LuculliLS* Litfigue. 23 

Parthia to withdraw him from his alliance with the 
enemies of the republic, and when he hesitated, threat- 
ened to advance into his territories beyond the Tigris. 
But a spirit of discontent or lassitude had crept over 
his own soldiers. His lieutenants were dissatisfied with 
the share of plunder allotted to them ; the civil officials 
of the province were disgusted at the equity with which 
he had curtailed their unrighteous gains. He was con- 
strained to withdraw from the siege of Artaxata, the 
furthest stronghold of Tigranes, on the banks of the 
Araxes, and after crowning his victories with a successful 
assault upon Nisibis, he gave the signal for retreat, leav- 
ing the destruction of Mithridates still unaccomplished. 
Meanwhile the brave proconsul's enemies were making 
head against him at Rome. The faction of the knights, 
who demanded all the profits of the civil government 
in the provinces, had acquired fresh power under the 
patronage of Pompeius, and from the stain which had 
been recently cast on their opponents by the miscon- 
duct of Verres, praetor of Sicily. The command in the 
eastern provinces was about to be taken 
from the victorious Imperator, whose only b"c'6^7^'' 

demerit was the spirit with which he had 
repressed official tyranny, and revived the hopes and 
happiness of the provincials. 



CHAPTER II. 

ASCENDENCY OF POMPEIUS. — HIS SUBJUGATION OF THE 
CILICIAN PIRATES, AND CONQUESTS IN THE EAST. 

Pompeius, on his return from Spain, had accepted the 
flatteries of the senatorial party, but he had not formally 



2 4 The Ro7iian Triumvirates. CH. i. 

enc^ajred. himself to serve it. He preferred 

Popularity f f , . . , , ^ . 

of Pompe- to hold, all parties in play, and wait upon 
events. His success against Spartacus con- 
firmed him in the conviction of his own transcendent 
abilities, and. persuaded him that he was necessary to 
the state, and must one day be invoked as an umpire 
or dictator to control the administration of affairs. On 
the restoration of peace he was piqued at the spirit with 
which a rising pubnc man, C. Julius Caesar, the nephew 
of Marius, and heir to a portion of his influence, was 
attacking the chiefs of the oligarchy for malversation in 
the provinces. The proceedmg was popular, and. Pom- 
peius determined to follow in the same track, and seem 
at least to take the lead in it. He encouraged a bold 
young orator, M. Tullius Cicero, to denounce the crimes 
of Verres. Notorious as he was, this culprit was power- 
fully supported. The nobles, conscious of the impor- 
tance of the case, rallied strenuously around him. His 
defence was undertaken by Hortensius, the ablest ad- 
vocate of their party, the favorite of the judges, the 
" king," as he was called, of the tribunals. Could they 
get the process postponed to the year ensuing, they 
might expect favor from the praetor, who would have 
to select the judges for the trial. Every effort was made 
to gain this point. The prosecutor was young and in- 
experienced; he was little known, being a " new man," 
a citizen of the obscure Volscian municipimn of Ar- 
pinum, of an equestrian family indeed, but of no civic 
distinction at Ronie. He had already pleaded with 
great ability on some former occasions, and had evinced 
much spirit in resisting the application of a law of Sulla, 
even during the dictator's lifetime. As quaestor in Sicily, 
a few years before, he had gained credit for purity as 
well as for activity. Tl e Sicilians themselves placed the 



B.C. 70. Predominajtce of Pompeius. 25 

conduct of their impeachment in his hands. He began 
by a display of judicious firmness in resisting the call 
for delay ; but at the same time he required on his own 
part some time to collect evidence, and it was only by 
the most strenuous efforts that he succeeded in furnish- 
ing himself with his proofs without allowing the defence 
the advantage which it demanded. Popular favor at 
Rome was strong in his behalf, and the consuls Pompei- 
us and Crassus openly avowed their approval. As soon 
as he opened his case, Hortensius discreetly- 
counselled submission. Verres declined to ^■^" ^' 
plead, and withdrew sullenly into exile. 
But Cicero was not thus satisfied. He published no 
only the speeches he had delivered, but the furthei 
pleadings he had prepared for the full establishment of 
his charges ; and the series of the Verrine Orations still 
exists as an imperishable record of pro-consular mis- 
government. They fell, no doubt, upon many willing 
ears. The consuls, nothing loth, restored to the knights 
their share in iYiGJudicia, and thus broke down the great 
bulwark of oligarchical authority. To give irresponsi- 
ble decisions in the law courts had been originally the 
special privilege of the senate ; but this function, which 
had been grievously abused to party purposes, had been 
directly transferred by C. Gracchus to the knights, had 
been divided between both orders by the legislators of 
the next generation, and again confined exclusively to 
the first by the reactionary policy of Sulla. Catulus and 
the most patriotic among the nobles assented cordially 
to the decorous reform of the Aurelian law, though the 
proudest and blindest of the party still scowled upon it 
with ill-suppressed indignation. 

The restoration of the tribunate had already wrested 
from the senate one-half of the political ascendency 



26 Tiie Roman Triumvirates. CH. it. 

which Sulla had extorted for them ; the admission of the 
knights to a share in the judicia deprived them of what 
yet remained. But Pompcius was not yet satisfied. In 
his new-born zeal for the popular interests, he deter- 
mined to subject the nobles even to personal degrada- 
tion. Since the time of Sulla no lustrum had been held. 
The consuls insisted on the appointment of 
^e'^fenate* censors. The citizens were duly numbered, 

^y ^^^ their property valued, the personal merits 

censors. l l j i 

of the members of the senate passed under 
review. The names of sixty-four of the order were now 
expunged from the roll ; and the whole body, august as 
it was, could not but feel that it was strictly the instru- 
ment of the state, and not its master. All the blood of 
Sulla's massacres had secured for his political work only 
eight years of existence. 

Pompeius was now at the height of his popularity. 
The people were delighted at the authority which he had 
acquired, having been exalted to the consulship while 
still only a knight, and having extorted from his col- 
league Crassus, the elect of the nobles, the deepest de- 
ference and even subservience. The nobles themselves, 
though exasperated at the superiority he asserted, and 
jealous of the interest he was making with the popular 
faction, could not venture to break with him, and still 
tried every means to attach him to their own side. The 
consuls, it was said, regarded each other witli coldness. 
A citizen came forward and asserted that he had been 
ordered by Jupiter, in a dream, to tell them not to lay 
down their office without being reconciled. Pompeius 
maintained a haughty reserve, but Crassus deferentially 
took his hand, exclaiming, " Romans, it is my part to 
give way to the great Pompeius, whom you have twice 
honored with a triumph while he was still only a 



B.C. 68. The Cilician Pirates. 27 

knight." But Pompeius treated the commons with no 
less reserve and coldness. He withdrew from the po- 
pular business of an advocate ; he estranged himself 
from the Forum, and if he ever appeared in public, took 
care to surround himself with a retinue of clients and 
flatterers. He carried into the city the manners of the 
camp or even of a court. This affectation of royal de- 
meanor was designedly adopted. Doubtless, Pompeius, 
like other Roman generals before him, had conceived 
the idea of assuming sovereign authority ; but his tem- 
perament was cold and sluggish, his ambition was of a 
passive character ; he hoped to have greatness thrust 
upon him, and he saw in the circumstances of the times 
many indications that the tyranny would surely devolve 
on the chief vv^ho had patience to wait for it. Meanwhile 
he was on the watch to seize on any opportunity that 
might present itself for maintaining or even increasing 
his acknowledged pre-eminence. 

Such an opportunity was offered by the alarms which 
were now excited at Rome by the prevalence of piracy 
in the Mediterranean waters. From east to 
west the great inland sea was traversed by Sracy'i'rf 

the fleets of plunderers who had their the Medi- 
terranean. 
strongholds and then- arsenals m the bays 

of Cilicia, but who were probably recruited from bands 

of lawless wanderers on every coast. The civil wars of 

Rome had deprived many thousands, not only in Italy, 

but throughout the provinces, of their ordinary means of 

subsistence. They had engendered, moreover, a general 

spirit of licentiousness and a greed of plunder ; and while 

the continent was kept under some control by the armies 

of the republic, the sea was left without a police, and had 

become the common field of enterprise for buccaneers 

from all quarters. The Cilician pirates, as they came to 



28 The Roma?i Triumvirates. ch. ii. 

be denominated, had assumed a certain political con- 
sistency. They claimed to transact business with chiefs 
and potentates. Sertorius had negotiated with them, 
when he was seeking an asylum beyoijd the reach of the 
Roman army. Spartacus had bargained with them for 
a passage across the straits of Messana. They might 
give way indeed to the armed flotillas which convoyed 
the transports of the republic to Greece or Asia ; but 
they attacked single vessels or small squadrons with in- 
creasing audacity, murdering or carrying into captivity 
Roman citizens and even high magistrates, descending 
upon farms and villas on the coasts of Italy itself, and 
sweeping off peaceful travellers from the crown of the 
Appian way. These injuries and indignities, gross as 
they were, continued to be long endured ; for the mag- 
nates of the city and of the provinces found their account 
in them from the abatement they caused in the price of 
slaves in the markets of Delos, and other centres of that 
nefarious traffic. But when, by their attacks upon the 
corn-vessels from Africa and Sicily, the pirates began to 
threaten the city with scarcity, the voice of the multitude 
made itself heard. It was determined to strike at the 
base of the hostile power. Servilius was charged to 
carry on a regular war against the public foe. His 
operations were prolonged through three campaigns, in 
which he besieged and reduced some maritime posts, 
and pursued his opponents into the moun- 
v.c. 676. tains, obtaining for his exploits the title of 

u.c. 73. ' o r 

Isauricus and the honor of a triumph. M. 

Antonius, and after him Metcllus, attacked the pirates 
in their strongholds in Crete; and from this 

b'c' 63. circumstance Metellus acquired the sur- 

name of Creticus. With much labor and 

by slow degrees the Roman power was established 



B.C. 67. Overthrow of the Pirates. ' 29 

among these obscure fastnesses ; but the vessels of the 
enemy, skilfully handled, for the most part escaped, and 
found for themselves other retreats still more inacces- 
sible. 

The tribes continued to be threatened with famine as 
before, and they insisted at any price on the thorough 
subjugation of the importunate foe. For this object they 
were ready to sacrifice their political jealousies, and to 
create a power in the state which should be indepen- 
dent of their annual suffrages and of the vicissitudes 
of party. In the year B.C. 67, the tribune 
Gabinius proposed that some veteran states- ^^^ Gabi- 

^ ^ man law. 

man —some one who had filled the highest 
office in the republic — should be invested for three years 
with absolute authority both by sea and land, as far as 
fifty miles into the interior, over a belt of soil within 
which lay all the greatest cities of the Roman dominion 
throughout the world. For the moment the crafty in- 
triguer withheld the name of the individual whom he 
would thus raise to irresponsible power : but both the 
nobles and the people readily understood that he pointed 
at the great Pompeius. The nobles would have had 
Gabinius slain ; one of his own colleagues, retained in 
their interest, put his veto on the resolution. Catulus, 
who was himself popular with the citizens, pointed out 
the hazard of exposing a personage so precious to the 
perils of an untried warfare. " Who could replace 
Pompeius," heexclaimed, " if Pompeius were lost to you " 
"Yourself !" cried the people, good-humoredly. Catulus 
desisted from further opposition ; the motion was car- 
ried ; 500 galleys and 120,000 soldiers were voted, and 
the resources of the state thrown open to the 
fortunate aspirant. This vote, it has been "^'e^^^" 

often said, was the actual commencement 



3© The Roman Triumvirates. ch. ii. 

of the empire. It was warmly supported by anothei 
candidate for greatness, the heir eventually of more than 
the power of Pompeius, the future dictator and emperor, 
C. Julius Caesar. 

As soon as this decree was announced the pirates 
knew that they would be dealt with in earnest, and with- 
drew promptly from the coasts of Italy. Stores of grain 
flowed in, and its price in the Roman market fell at 
once. The people believed that the mere name of their 
favorite had finished the war. But Pompeius knew that 
it was not so, and he had no wish that it 

oUCCCSS Ol 

Pompeius should be so. He had obtained imperial 

aHdan*^^^ powers, and he was determined to make 
pirates. ygg of them. He chose for his lieutenants 

B.C. 67. 

twenty-four senators, all men of distinction 
and experience in command ; he divided the Mediter- 
ranean into thirteen regions, and appointed a squadron 
to each. In the space of forty days he had swept the 
whole western tract of the great inland sea, and driven 
the enemy into the opposite quarter. The pirates, find- 
ing his measures irresistible, made no head against them. 
Their leaders readily betrayed one another, and the 
politic commander employed the services of each in the 
general pursuit. The few that still held out were driven 
into the creeks and bays of the Cilician coast, where 
they were defended by their stockades and fortresses ; 
but these, 120 in number, were speedily surrounded and 
overthrown. Pompeius burnt as many as 1,300 of their 
ves'sels, and destroyed all the hostile magazines and ar- 
senals. His captives he lodged at various spots along the 
shores where they had previously carried desolation 
Ninety days sufficed to terminate the contest. The suc- 
cess was certainly complete for the time ; but piracy was 
too easy and tempting a trade to be permanently cradi- 



B.C. 68. Com?Jiand of Pompeius inthe East. 31 

cated. Whenever, during the civil troubles which suc- 
ceeded, Rome allowed herself to neglect the police of 
the seas, the coasts of the eastern Mediterranean again 
swarmed with maritime robbers ; and the Levant has 
continued to this day to be similarly infested under 
similar circumstances. But the Roman people had no 
misgivings. They rejoiced in the plenty which seemed 
to be now assured to them ; they exulted in the success 
ot their admired hero, and not only lavished upon 
him caresses and honors, but allowed him to insult the 
other chiefs of the state, and trample upon the officers 
who ventured to exercise the authority entrusted to them. 
He required the distinguished consular Q. Metellus, who 
had obtained an independent command for the reduc- 
tion of the Cretan brigands before his own extraordinary 
appointment, to desist from his operations, and when 
Metellus demurred to the order, actually sent one of his 
lieutenants to assist the enemy whom he was employed 
in subduing. The people pardoned the affront to their 
own majesty ; but history has not failed to record the 
vexation even of the great commander's friends at the 
jealousy he evinced, in this and many other instances, 
of all who seemed in any degree to trench upon his own 
exclusive pretensions. 

Meanwhile the opposition of the puhlicani, the greedy 
collectors of the taxes in Asia, and of their supporters m 
the city, had reduced LucuUus to enforced ^ 

Investmenc of 

inactivity. Some of his troops had been Pompeius 
withdrawn from his standard, and trans- ^\llrnand^'n^ 
ferred to Glabrio in Bithynia; another por- ^'^ ^^zx.. 
tion had been put under the command of Marcius Rex 
in Cilicia. Mithridates and Tigranes had seized the op- 
portunity for attack. Legions and detachments had 
suffered severe defeats, which LucuUus, with weakened 



32 The Roman Triumvirates. ch. ii. 

forces, had with difficulty repaired. His own mutinous 
soldiers had refused to be led in pursuit of the enemy ; 
and once more the allied kings had invaded the Roman 
provinces, and driven the new commanders of the 
legions far back towards the ^gean. But Pompeius was 
now at hand on the coast of Cilicia. The intrigues of 
his partizans at home had fully ripened. The tribune 
Manilius stepped forward and argued that the conqueror 
of the pirates should be at once charged with the con- 
quest of the arch-enemy Mithridates, who had baffled 
for twenty years the greatest captains of the republic. 
To accomplish so great a service he must be invested 
with sovereign power over all the East. The authority 
he already wielded against the pirates must be extended 
and enlarged. Here was another step towards empire, 
but it seemed a small step. Necessity knew no law. 
Many forces from many quarters combined to support 
the proposition. The nobles were alarmed and reluc- 
tant ; but the Marian party were all the more urgent for 
its adoption, and the Marians were now led by a strong 
and able chief in the person of Csesar. Crassus himself 
was well inclined to encourage any motion which tended 
to establish a precedent for unlimited authority. Cicero 
was carried away partly by his genuine enthusiasm in 
favor of abler and stronger men than himself, partly, no 
doubt, by the flatteries lavished upon him by Pompeius, 
by Crassus, and by Caesar, who all felt that his eloquence 
might be of use to them, while the nobles continued to 
repel him as an upstart unworthy of their favor or coun- 
tenance. The lofty spirit of Catulus was of no avail 

against so many and such various forces. 
B c 68^ "^^^ ^'^^ °^ Manilius was carried in the tribes 

with enthusiasm, and the sullen opposition 
of the senate was almost contemptuously overruled. 



B.C. 63- End of the Mithridatic Wars. 33 

The Romans ascribed to Pompeius the character of a 
profound dissembler. They said that on this elevation 
of fortune he pretended to be deeply troubled, and pro- 
fessed to regret the honors which were thrust upon him. 
But his acts evinced no abatement of pride or resolu- 
tion. He assumed at once all the powers that were 
entrusted to him, and chose his lieutenants and ap- 
pointed them to their respective services 
with alacrity. As soon as he had collected ^j- Ro,^ian 
his troops around him, he summoned the ascendency 

" ' m tne iiast. 

allies and dependents of the republic in 
the East to attend upon him and take orders from his 
camp, while, at the same time, he seemed studiously to 
humiliate his predecessor in command, by traversing 
his orders and political arrangements. The two gene- 
rals met, the one advancing, the other retiring, in Galatia. 
Pompeius insulted LucuUus with pretended compli- 
ments and actual affronts ; but Lucullus took care to in- 
form his countrymen that he had himself already 
broken the power of the enemy whom his rival was 
sent to crush, and that the final overthrow of Mithri- 
dates was already prepared to his successor's hands, as 
had been the overthrow of Spartacus and of Sertorius. 
Pompeius, however, did not intend to confine his views 
to the destruction of any single enemy. His commission 
extended to the complete settlement of the affairs of the 
East. The kingdoms of Armenia and Parthia were to 
be rendered subservient to the policy of Rome. The 
alliance between Tigranes and Phraates was to be 
finally broken, and these princes were to be made mu- 
tually jealous of one another and severally dependent 
upon the support of the republic. The frontier of the 
Euphrates was to be secured by placing its bridges in 
the hands of lesser vassals, who could at any convenient 



34 Tlie Roman Triumvirates. CH. ii. 

moment be transformed into subjects. The eastern 
shores of the IMcditerranean were to be reduced to the 
condition of Roman provinces. Pompeius finally an- 
nexed the rich and populous realm of Syria, and found 
an opportunity to interfere in the disputes of the reign- 
ing family in Judaea, and establish a dependent sovereign 
on the throne of Jerusalem. The mingled craft and 
violence with which he acted throughout these transac- 
tions are sufficiently disgusting; but it must be confessed 
that no portion of human annals is more 
U.C.693. odious than the history of the tyrants of 

B.C. 63. ■' -^ 

Judaea who had risen on the fall of the Sy- 
rian power in that country. Every step, however harsh 
and oppressive, that Rome took, in displacing the native 
rule and preparing the way for her own, served to miti- 
gate some of the sufferings of the people, and to pacify 
at least their internal discords. 

While engaged in these operations, and setting up or 
putting down at pleasure thrones and dynasties, Pom- 
Ovcrthrow pcius regarded himself as the autocrat of 
and <ieath \\^q East, the king of kings, another Xerxes. 

of Mithri- ' ^ -1 , , • 

dates. He had wrested from IMithridates the king- 

^' dom of Pontus, and pursued him along the 

coastof the Euxine beyond the Phasis ; but from thence 
he had turned to the cast and to the south, and had 
allowed his baffled and dispirited adversary to maintain 
himself in the Cimmerian Chersonese, on the furthest 
confines of his possessions. He was content to foster 
intrigues against him in his own family, and it was by 
the defection of his favorite son Pharnaces that the king 
was prevented from executing an audacious plan of at- 
tacking Italy herself on the side of Thrace and Illyria. 
Pharnaces entered into relations with the Romans. Mi- 
thridates marched against him, but was at last abandoned 



CH. II. Rise of Julius Ccesar. 35 

by his own soldiers, and was reduced, it was said, in his 
extremity to take poison. The popular account affirmed 
that his system had been so fortified by the habitual use 
of antidotes that the poison took no effect, but this is 
one of the marvellous stories of antiquity to which 
modern science will hardly allow us to give credit. At 
all events, the terrible Mithridates fell at last upon the 
sword of one of his own Gaulish captives. 

Pompeius was himself in Judaea when the death of 
his chief adversary was announced to him. 
He was now at leisure to advance northward Roman su- 
and secure the fruits of this crowning: sue- premacy in 

° the East. 

ces5- At Amisus in Pontus he received from 
Pharnaces the- dead body of Mithridates, to make him 
doubly sure of his triumph, and policy rather than gene- 
rosity induced him to give it royal obsequies at Sinope, 
and thus render the fact of his death notorious through- 
out the regions in which the mere name of' the great 
tyrant had sufficed to raise innumerable armies. The 
success of Pompeius was now complete, but it had been 
gained from the first over exhausted or distracted ene- 
mies. He had obtained vast advantages for the republic, 
yet he could hardly be said to have reaped fresh laurels 
for himself But his reputation as a captain was already 
well established, and Rome was content to ascribe the 
extension of her empire in the East to a military genius 
which, in fact, he had hardly exercised at all. She had 
embraced within her frontiers a number of dependent 
sovereigns. Deiotarus occupied the vassal throne of 
Galatia; Attains affected to reign in Paphlagonia ; Ario- 
barzanes in Cappadocia ; but Pontus, Cilicia, and Syria 
were definitively ii.dded to the list of the provinces. 
Beyond the lines of her stations and garrisons the repub- 
lic supported the sovereignty of Pharnaces on the Bos- 

D 



36 The Roman Triu?nviratcs. ch. ii. 

porus, and of Herod in Palestine, and she completely 
detached the kingdom of Armenia from the influence 
of Parthia. In the course of time a great portion of 
these regions became absorbed in the empire ; but it 
was only occasionally, and but for a brief period, that 
the outposts of the Roman power were pushed beyond 
the eastern limits at which Pompeius had placed them. 
The senate vaunted the patriotic services of the Impera- 
tor, to whom it still looked for the maintenance of its 
own ascendency. It trusted, though not without some mis- 
giving, that the camps in Asia had given it a second 
Sulla to assert the prerogatives of the oligarchy. The 
dissensions in the city were threatenmg it with a revival 
of the claims of the Marians, but it still clung with fitful 
hope to its powerful army and its victorious general. 

Pompeius had seemed indeed to break with the 
Optimates when he allowed the tribunes to raise the 

people in his interest, and thrust upon him 
C- Julius j.]^^ y3^5^ ^^^ irregular powers of the Gabi- 

nian and the Manilian laws. But they could 
handly deny that the first of these was a measure of 
pressing necessity, and that they had themselves given 
occasion to the second by the abandonment of their ill- 
used champion Lucullus. They now expected, doubt- 
less, that the altered state of affairs at Rome would com- 
pel the chief of the army to make common cause with 
them for his own sake ; for the course of events had 
raised up a rival there of whom he could not fail to be 
jealous. The young C. Julius Caesar had become a 
power in the slate. Descended from an ancient patri- 
cian race, which claimed as its eponym, Julus, the ion 
of i^neas, the grandson of Anchiscs and the goddess 
Venus, he could point to the images of many noble 
ancestors, though none of them had attained the highest 



CH. II. Rise of Julius CcEsar. 37 

distinction in the Roman annals. Caesar's birth and 
origin might thus have attached him to the party of the 
senate and the Optimates, which comprised the chief 
historical houses of the commonwealth, but Marius, as it 
chanced, had married his aunt, and his early predilec- 
tions were thus engaged to the Marians ; his first mar- 
riage, also, which he had contracted as a mere boy, was 
with a daughter of Cinna. As a youth, however, he gave 
no special token of devotion to a cause or aptitude for 
public affairs. He plunged from the first into a career 
of dissipation, redeemed only by the elegance of his 
tastes and manners ; but he early embarrassed himself 
with a load of debt, while he made himself many per- 
sonal enemies by the looseness of his amatory intrigues. 
No matron, it was said, could resist his beauty ; while 
his gracious manners exercised a wondrous fascination 
over the gravest statesman. Sulla, indeed, had divined 
his genius, and warned some who had spoken slightingly 
of him, that in the young Caesar there was many a Marius. 
But Ponipeius, who had come in contact with him on 
his return from Spain, in the height of his own ascen- 
dency, had deemed hiiTt no more than a serviceable de- 
pendent; and Cicero, when he looked around him for a 
party to serve and a patron to follow, had persuaded 
himself that the state had nothing to fear, and he had 
himself nothmg to gain, from the elegant debauchee who 
trailed his gown so loosely in the Forum. Caesar, how- 
ever, was conscious of his own powers ; nor did he place 
less reliance on his own fortune. It is related that in his 
youth he fell into the hands of the pirates on the coast 
of Asia, and when they offered to release him for a ran- 
som of twenty talents, insisted on their taking no less 
than fifty, assuring them at the same time that he would 
have them all hanged at last — a threat which he soon 



38 2\e Roman Triumvirates. ch. ii. 

found means of actually carrying into effect. He was 
still a private student at Rhodes, holding no military ap- 
pointment, when hearing that Mithridates was attacking 
some allies of the republic, he collected troops on his 
own account, and levied successful wars against the 
most redoubtable of its enemies. 

During the years that followed, Caesar continued to 

watch the career of Pompeius, and meditated rivalling 

him in the favor of the citizens. But his 

Motions of ^ ^ . ^ ^1 1 

the tribune urst care was to support the measures, such 
C)rneiiu>. g^g those of Gabinius and Manilius, which 

were brought forward by the great man's creatures for 
enhancing his personal ascendency. Such measures 
served Cassar's designs in two ways ; they rendered 
men's minds more and more familiar with the notion of 
autocratic government, to which all classes seemed to 
look as the inevitable issue of affairs, and at the same 
time they helped to increase the jealousy of the nobles 
towards the man who had once been their minister, but 
who was now making himself more and more indepen- 
dent of them. Caesar beheld with satisfaction the motions 
of the tribune Cornelius, for curbing the excessive usury 
which the nobles had allowed themselves to exact for the 
loans negotiated with them by the provinces. The tri- 
bune was encountered by furious opposition, and opposi- 
tion was overcome by violence in the coirfitia. When 
an impeachment was hurled against the obnoxious officer 
who, it seems, had not scrupled to disregard the veto of 
a colleague whose services had been purchased by the 
senate, a tumult ensued. Manilius ventured to defend 
the culprit, and tried to overawe his opponents with the 
name of Pompeius. The consuls, however, had the 
courage to exert military force, and the affair was sub- 
jected to legal process. Cicero, at the instiga- 



B.C. 65- Revival of Party St7'uggles. 39 

tion of Pompeius, or of his adherents, was u.c. 689. 

B.C. 65. 

retained to defend the accused, and ven- 
tured to plead the favor in which he was held by the 
redoubted champion of the republic, who was engaged 
far away in its defence and aggrandizement. The argu- 
ments of the orator proved successful. The charge was 
allowed to drop. The countenance thus given to popular 
violence was of fatal significance. From that time it was 
again and again repeated with aggravated fury. The 
senate and the people were thus committed to a struggle 
which could not fail to demand the interference of a 
power paramount to both. It required little foresight to 
anticipate the effect of the conqueror's triumphant return 
from the East, unless indeed hi^ threatened supremacy 
should be counterbalanced by the creation of a rival 
power supported by an overwhelming popular feeling at 
home. It was to the creation of such a power that Caesar 
was directingall his resources. 

In the year 65 Caesar obtained the sedileship in con- 
junction with Bibulus, the candidate of the nobles. This 
office was charged with providing amusements for the 
populace. It required an enormous outlay of money, 
but it opened the way, through the favor of 
the people, to the highest public honors. ^dUeship 
Caesar played his game boldly. He charmed 
the populace by the expenses he lavishly incurred, and 
especially by the profusion of silver bullion with which 
he decorated the furniture and implements of the arena. 
Plunged already deep in debt, he continued to borrow on 
the credit of his genius and his rising fortunes. If the 
wealthy Bibulus equalled Caesar in munificence, the 
people gave him no credit for generosity ; nor were the 
manners of the penniless adventurer less ingratiating 
than his reckless prodigality. Bibulus was fain to liken 



40 The Roman Triumvirates. ch. ii. 

himself to Pollux, who, though he possessed a temple in 
conjunction with his twin brother, heard it always called 
by the name of Castor rather than by his own, Caesar 
could now rely on the clamorous support of the populace 
for the bold measures on which he ventured. He had 
already irritated the nobles by parading the proscribed 
bust of Marius in public ; he now erected the statue of 
their fallen enemy among the ornaments of the Capitol, 
and surrounded it with the trophies of his victories. 
The people shouted with delight; the nobles scowled 
indignantly. Catulus determined to bring him to pu- 
nishment for a violation of the law of attainder. 
Catulus was not only the chief leader of the senate 
and the political heir of Sulla, he was the son of the 
noblest victim of the Marian massacres. He accused 
Cnesar of ulterior designs ; he declared that he was now 
assaulting the republic, not covertly vvith mines, but 
with the battering-ram openly. Caesar defended him- 
self in the senate house, and even there he succeeded in 
foiling his accuser ; but he extorted his acquittal from 
the fears of the assembly rather than from its justice or 
its favor. The nobles contented themselves with a 
prompt retaliation. When about to resign the sedileship 
Caesar demanded a public mission to take possession of 
Egypt, in virtue of the will of the king Ptolemseus Alex- 
ander. This country, through which the commerce of 
the East passed into Europe, was regarded as the wealth- 
iest in the world. It offered a magnificent prey to the 
rapacious republic, and an ample harvest to the fortu- 
nate officer who should be appointed to annex it. Cras- 
sus and Caesar disputed this rich booty, but the senate 
evaded the demands of both equally A tribune named 
Papius was engaged to demand that all foreigners, and 
especially Caesar's clients, the transpadanc Gauls, should 



B.C. 65. Ccesar' s Political Impeachments. 41 

be removed from the city ; and when his most vehement 
partisans were thus disabled, Caesar probably himself 
assisted in preventing the success of his rival. The 
government allowed the bequest of the Egyptian mon- 
arch, whether real or pretended, to remain 
in abeyance, rather than subject itself to b'c 6? 

the peril of flinging so splendid a prize 
into the hands of any one of the citizens. 

But Caesar obtained a seat on the tribunal which in- 
quired into cases of murder. This appointment had a 
political significance which he could turn to 

account. Hitherto he had done no more Caesar im- 
peaches 
than protest by silent tokens against the Rabirius. 

dictatorship of Sulla ; he now resolved to b!c 65. 
brand it with a legal stigma. He cited be- 
fore him and condemned as political offenders two men 
who had acted as Sulla's instruments of blood. He went 
still further back in his inquisition — he induced one of 
the tribunes to accuse an aged senator, Rabirius, of the 
slaughter of the traitor Saturninus. Both Cicero and 
Hortensius were engaged by the nobles to defend the 
victim ; but the people seemed to exult in the audacious 
injustice of the process ; for it was well known, first, 
that Rabirius had not done the deed ; secondly, that the 
real slayer had been publicly justified at the time ; and, 
lastly, that the transaction had occurred as much as 
thirty-six years before, and might well deserve to be 
buried in oblivion after so many political revolutions. 
The appeal of Rabirius would actually have been re- 
jected but for the adroitness of the praetor Metellus Celer, 
who suddenly struck the flag which waved from the 
Janiculum during the public assembly of the tribes. In 
ancient times the striking of this flag was the signal that 
the Etruscans were advancing to attack the city. In- 



42 The Roman Triumvirates. ch. ii, 

stantly all business was suspended, the comitia were dis- 
solved, and the citizens rushed sword in hand to man 
the walls. The formality still held its ground among a 
people smgularly tenacious of traditional usages ; and 
now again the multitude, which had just clamored for 
innocent blood, laughed at the trick by which its fury 
was baffled, and acquiesced m the suspension of the 
proceedings. Caisar had gained his point in aiarmmg 
and mortifying the senate, and allowed the matter to 
drop, which he had never perhaps mtended to push to 
extremity. 

Labienus, the tribune who had been Caesar's agent m 

this matter, procured his patron a further gratification, in 

requiring the abrogation of the Cornelian 

Csesar chief X^^sn ^ by which Sulla had withdrawn from 

pontiff. ' ■' 

B.C. 63. the people the nomination to the college of 

pontiffs. The chief place in that body was 
now vacant, and the popular election promptly fell upon 
the new favorite, who was placed thereby in command 
of a great political engine, and whose person was ren- 
dered legally inviolable. Neither the notorious laxity of 
his moral principles, nor his avowed contempt for the 
religious traditions of the multitude, hindered Caesar's 
advancement to the highest office of the national wor- 
ship. It sufficed that he should perform the stated func- 
tions of his post, and maintain the prescriptive usages on 
which the state pretended to repose her safety and well- 
being. Caesar's triumph was the more complete as it 
was gained over CatuUis. who had contemptuously olfcred 
to buy off his opposition by a loan of money. But CcUsar 
Ivid declared that he would borrowmore and more large- 
ly from any quarter, rather than forego a prize which 
had become indeed necessary for his personal security. 
He was menaced wnth an impeachment for treason 



B.C. 6^. Leaders of the Nobles. 43 

against the state, and, whether he was conscious of guilt 
or not, his enemies, he knew, were not more scrupulous 
than himself. When the hour of election arrived he 
said to his mother, on quitting his house, " This day your 
son will be either chief pontiff or an exile." 



CHAPTER III. 

STATE OF PARTIES IN THE CITY. — CONSULSHIP OF 
CICERO, AND CONSPIRACY OF CATILINA. 

The nobles might begin already to feel insecure, and 
while they still clung to the hope that Pompeius would 
protect them against their adversaries at 
home, they were anxious to provide for their t^e noMes 
own defence, without relying on his pre- 
carious assistance. On the whole, they were content, 
perhaps, that he should continue absent from the city, 
while he removed the legions with him to a distance, 
and left them to depend on the civil arm and the ir- 
regular support of their own clients and dependents. 
Africa had been wrested from the rival faction of the 
Marians ; Gaul and Spain had been placed under the 
government of their own partisans The cohorts which 
watched over Italy and the city itself were for the most 
part officered by captains of their own choice, and the 
veterans of Sulla, scattered throughout the peninsula on 
lands assigned them by the dictator, secured them, it 
might be thought, an ample reserve both of influence 
and of military power. But the party of the optimates 
wanted leaders. The chief men among them, however 



44 "^^^ Rotnan Triumvirates. CH. iii. 

eminent from birth, wealth, and personal distinction, 
were uniformly deficient both in the power of attracting 
adherents and also of commanding them. Catulus, the 
most high-minded and honorable of all, wanted spirit, 
decision, and force of character, as he had too plainly 
shown in his contest with Lepidus. Lucullus, partly 
from indolence and self-indulgence, partly no doubt 
from mortification at the treatment he had received from 
his own party, no longer cared to mingle actively in 
state affairs. The pohcy of Crassus was simply selfish ; 
he was seeking, or rather, in accordance with his slug- 
gish nature, was waiting for ascendency over all parties, 
and was justly distrusted by all. Silanus, Murena, and 
others were not incompetent indeed to discharge the 
high office which became their eminence in rank and 
civil experience, but were plainly unequal to the task of 
leading and controlling. Hortensius possessed much 
influence as an orator, but his position hardly entitled 
him to command a political party ; and generally the 
possessors of the greatest wealth among a wealthy 
nobility were more addicted to the enjoyment of per- 
sonal luxuries than to the conduct of public affairs. 
The most active and vigorous of their class was not one 
of the wealthiest or the noblest. The authority which 
M. Porcius Cato eventually exercised among them was 
gained by his own actual merits and exertions ; but he, 
too, with all his zeal and energy, was lacking in discre- 
tion and judgment, and promised to offer only violent 
and intemperate counsels at a crisis which demanded 
the utmost moderation and circumspection. 

Cato inherited the name, the temper, and the princi- 
ples of the illustrious censor his great-grand- 
M.^Porcius father, and therewith enjoyed in no slight 
degree the respect and confidence of the 



CH. III. Position of M. Porcius Cato. 45 

Roman people. He believed, as devoutly as his an- 
cestor, in the mission of a superior caste of citizens 
to rule the state ; in the right of the Roman people, the 
lords of the human race, to hold the world in bondage ; 
in the absolute authority of the husband over the wife, 
the parent over the child, the master over his bondman. 
His temper, indeed, was more kindly than his principles, 
and the gleams of good humor which break occasionally 
through the cloud of prejudices in which he studiously 
involved himself, afford some relief to the general 
harshness of his character and conduct. Born in the 
year 95 B.C., he had witnessed the close of the Social 
war, and resented, as a child, the compromise in which 
that struggle resulted. Nevertheless, his feelings had 
revolted from the bloody measures v/ith which Sulla had 
avenged it, and he alone of his party had sighed over 
their most signal victories, and lamented the cruel re- 
taliation they had demanded. From early life he had 
trained himself in all the hardness of the ancient man- 
ners which had become now generally obsolete. Inured 
to frugality and of simple tastes, he had resisted all 
temptation to rapine and extortion. Enrolling himself 
in the priesthood of Apollo, he acknowledged perhaps a 
divine call to a higher life in the practice of bodily self- 
denial. He imbibed the doctrines of the Stoic philoso- 
phy, the rigidity of which accorded well with his own 
temper, and he strove under their guidance to direct his 
public conduct by the strictest rules of private integrity. 
If he failed, it was through the infirmity of our comm.on 
nature, not from personal vanity or caprice ; but it can- 
not be denied that the exigencies of public affairs drove 
him, as well as others, to many a sordid compromise 
with his noble principles. The strength to which he as- 
pired became, indeed, the source of manifold weakness. 



46 The Roman Triumvirates. ch. hi. 

It made him vain of his superior virtues, confident in 
his judgments, morose and ungenerous, a blind observer 
of forms, and impracticable in his prejudices. A party 
composed of such men as Cato would have been ill- 
matched with the ranks of pliant intriguers opposed to 
them on every side ; but when the selfish, indolent, and 
unprincipled chose themselves a champion of a charac- 
ter so alien from their own, there could be no hearty 
and, therefore, no fruitful alliance between the leader 
and his followers. 

As yet, however, the ascendency of Cato in the coun- 
cils of the optimates was unconfirmed. The senate 

hoped to secure in the rising orator, Cicero, 
Cicero. 3. supporter whom they might first use for 

their own purposes, and then, if convenient, 
cast away. For M. Tullius Cicero, the son of a Vol- 
scian knight, with neither birth, nor connection, nor 
wealth, might be easily induced, as they supposed, to 
serve them with his undoubted talents for the sake of 
the distinctions to which they could introduce him, and 
might not be too exacting in the devotion he would ex- 
pect from them in return. Cicero had sought at the 
commencement of his career to attach himself to Pom- 
peius ; but Pompeius had always treated him, as he 
treated others, with coldness, and the great captain was, 
moreover, absent. Again, Cicero had admired Ccesar, 
and inclined to lean upon his support; but the danger- 
ous policy of Caesar had become lately developed, and 
it was plain that the aspirant's choice must now be 
made between the senate and the champion of the peo- 
ple. Public men, indeed, were now well aware that tlic 
state was in danger from the machinations of a revolu- 
tionary cabal wliich were swiftly ripening to an explosion. 
The real designs of the infamous Catilina and his asso- 



CH. III. Position of Cicero. 47 

ciates must indeed always remain shrouded in mystery. 
The accounts we have received of them come from the 
mouths of their opponents exclusively. The declama- 
tions of Cicero, supported in the main by the sententious 
history of Sallust, became the recognised text on which 
the later Roman writers relied, and beyond these there 
exist no contemporary materials for forming a judgment 
upon the facts. Doubtless, it was the interest of the 
nobles to blacken the character of the conspirators to the 
utmost. Nevertheless, it is impossible to deny, and on 
the whole it would be unreasonable to doubt, that such 
a conspiracy there really was, and that the very ex- 
istence of the commonwealth was for a moment seri- 
ously imperilled. 

The civil wars had left society at Rome in a state of 
general disturbance. The license of the times had en- 
gendered a reckless spirit of selfishness and 
violence. Criminal ambitions had been fos- S-°/^,^^?r.^*^^ 

01 Latilina. 

tered by the spectacle of successful treach- 
eries. The highest honors had fallen to the most worth- 
less of men, who had had the audacity to strike for them. 
At the same time the plunder of the East had flooded 
Rome with wealth and luxuries. It had created a class 
of men who did not scruple to employ their riches in the 
purchase of venal votes, and the dignity of the common- 
vi^ealth had been too commonly prostituted to vulgar 
arrogance. Money had been easily made, but it had 
been no less easily lost. Even in the highest orders if 
many had become suddenly rich, more, no doubt, had 
found themselves no less suddenly impoverished. The 
state lay in danger from the intrigues of the one class, 
still more perhaps from the violence of the other. A 
cry rose more and more loud among the young repro- 
bates who hung on the skirts of the aristocracy for re- 



48 Tlie Roman Triumvirates. ch. hi. 

lief from their debts, for wiping out the accounts against 
them, if necessary, in blood. Such men were led by ac- 
complished bravoes, such as L. Sergius Catilina, notorious 
himself as a ruined spendthrift, and distinguished at the 
same time for his personal bravery as well as by his high 
connections. The city was rife with stories of this man's 
wild and wicked deeds. He had cruelly murdered an 
enemy of the dictator ; he had assassinated his own 
brother ; he had sacrificed his youthful son with a view 
to a union with a rich but profligate woman. Yet with 
the stigma of a broken fortune and of all these crimes 
upon him, we are required to believe that Catilina had 
advanced far in the career of public favor and of civil 
honors, and had at last proposed himself as a candidate 
for the consulship. Nay, more, the discreet and de- 
corous Cicero had not hesitated to join with him in com- 
petition for the office, and had undertaken his defence 
against a charge of malversation in the province which 
he had been already allowed to administer. Even now 
he was commonly believed to be engaged in a plot 
against the state, and a vague rumor pointed even to 
men so distinguished as Crassus and Caesar as associated 
with him. 

The nobles had little confidence in any of their 
natural leaders, and when the ascendency of their party, 
^. if not the actual safety of the state, was 

CiC'^ro ^ 

becomes threatened by a plot which they were per- 

u.c. 691. haps unable to unmask, they were willing 

B.C. 63. |.Q condone Cicero's offence in the im- 

peachment of Verres, and the court he had assiduously 
paid to the people, while they lent their influence to raise 
him to the consulship. They managed at the same time 
to associate with him one of their own order, named An- 
tonius, who, it seems, was but a faithless partisan after 



B.C. 6^. Cicero becomes Consul. 49 

all. Cicero was naturally elated at the elevation he had 
attained, and easily believed himself necessary to the 
party which 'had thus sought his assistance. He now 
devoted himself to the interests of the senate, drew more 
and more away from the adherents of Pompeius, from 
Crassus, and from C^sar ; and when the leader of the 
people proposed an agrarian law through the tribune 
RuUus, he denounced and overruled the attempt. The 
public domain in Italy had been almost wholly alienated 
from the state. The veterans of Sulla had been recom- 
pensed with grants of all the land which was available 
for the enrichment pf the poorer citizens ; but the con- 
quests of the republic in Gaul and Spain had supplied a 
large reserve of territory, and RuUus had proposed that 
by the sale of this reserved land funds should be raised 
for the endowment of the lower populace. It might be 
expected that the loss thence resulting to the revenue 
would be amply balanced by the tribute w^hich was flow- 
ing more and more largely from the East. The motion 
seems ,to have been g'enerally politic ; but it may be 
presumed that it was with party views that Caesar had 
urged, and it was with such views undoubtedly that 
Cicero and the senate had opposed it. The contest 
served to bind the aspiring consul and his new friends 
more closely together. 

Meanwhile, the intrigues of Catilina were ripening, 
and Cicero was keenly watching them, and gathering 
into his hand the clues which should lead ^ 

Preparations 

to their exposure. It seems that the arch- of the con- 
conspirator, while selecting his associates ^^"^^ °^^' 
and preparing his resources even for civil war, if neces- 
sary, was still bent on obtaining the consulship for which 
he offered himself a second time ; and while he still re- 
tained a hope of success in this critical undertaking, he 



50 The Ro77ian T7'iumvirates. ch. hi. 

studiously refrained from committing himself to open 
violence. Cicero, however, had decided that it was 
better for his party, better for the state, to meet Catilina 
as an avowed traitor than to allow him to attain the 
legitimate power of the higlicst magistracy. He applied 
himself to the support of Silanus and M arena, both of 
them, as has been said, chiefs among the optimates, but 
both of them held in regard by Crassus and Caesar, and 
fitted accordingly to secure the suffrage of all the party 
leaders. It was only by outrageous bribery that Catilina 
could hope to succeed against such a combination ; and 
here, too, Cicero contrived to baffle, him by promising a 
decree of ten years' banishment against the candidate 
vho should be convicted of buying the votes of the 
people. This decisive measure drove the conspirator to 
despair. His preparations for the alternative on which 
he had resolved were already far advanced; a.rms had 
been collected ; the restless veterans of Sulla had been 
tampered with, and abundant aid elsewhere secured. It 
was said that the fleet at Ostia, which commanded the 
access of the corn vessels to the city, had been gained. 
The officers in command in Africa, and even in Spain, 
had promised assistance. The garrisons of these neigh- 
boring provinces might be wafted to Italy before the 
first news of disturbance could reach the faithful legions 
of the East. Even the loyalty of the consul Antonius 
was at the best doubtful ; but Cicero would not allow it 
to be called in question. The band of traitors certainly 
comprised, however, various personages of distinction 
and influence. Sallust has recorded the names of 
several senators and as many knights. Cornelius 
Lentulus was designated prretor for the ensuing year, a 
vain and ambitious man, who fancied he was himself 
the leader of the projected enterprise, and trusted in a 



B.C. 63. Cicero^ s politic Measures, 51 

reported oracle of the Sibyl, which declared that three 
Cornelii should reign in Rome. Cinna and Sulla (both 
Cornelii) had so far fulfilled the prophecy. Intoxicated 
with the hope of this coming triumph, Lentulus would 
have put arms into the hands of his slaves. But from 
this atrocity even Catilina shrank. 

Such were the circumstances under which Cicero 
determined to strike the first blow ; but the time had 
passed when a dictator could be invoked to ^, 

^ ^ The con- 

save the state by an act of arbitrary vigor. spiracy 

. detected 

The mistress of Curius, one of the band, 
put the consul upon his guard against assassination, and 
disclosed the intimate counsels of the conspirators. 
With this information Cicero was enabled to obtain a 
formal decree from the senate, enjoining the consuls to 
**see to the safety of the state;" but in acting against 
men of such distinction and so highly connected, every 
step was hazardous. The citizen, accused of a capital 
crime, involving either death or loss of civil status, still 
claimed the right of appeal to the tribes ; and this was a 
check upon the prerogative of the senate which the 
people, under the influence of a Crassus or a Caesar, 
were not likely to surrender. To work upon the feelings 
of the multitude it was necessary to implicate the cul- 
prits not in a plot of private assassination, or an intrigue 
against a class or faction in the state, but in a hostile 
attempt upon the commonwealth itself in concert with a 
foreign enemy. It was fortunate that at this moment 
two pro-consuls, Marcius Rex and Metellus Creticus, 
arrived at the gates of the city with some detachments 
from their legions, demanding the honors of a triumph. 
The one was immediately ordered to take the field 
against Mallius, who had raised forces for the conspira- 
tors in Etruria, while the other was sent to check the in- 

E 



52 The Roman Triumvirates. CH. iii. 

surgents in Af)ulia. Hasty levies were despatched to 
control a movement in Picenum. The bands of gladia- 
tors at Capua were removed or dispersed ; Rome was 
placed in a state of siege ; citizens were enrolled ; guards 
posted at the gates ; the streets were patrolled ; Cicero 
assumed the command and directed everything, while 
he concerted the means of bringing popular feeling to 
bear upon the traitors as soon as they should be legally 
convicted. 

The consul's first step was to remove Catilina from the 
city, and to drive him into the arms of the open enemies 
r, .,. of the state. On November 7, when his 

driven out term of office was now drawing to a close, 

ot Rome. , , , . , . . 

he convened the senate m the temple of 
Jupiter Stator on the Palatine. Catilina had the audacity 
to appear in his place, but the senators, alarmed and 
indignant, shrank from the bench on which he placed 
himself. Cicero had already prepared them for the de- 
nunciation he was about to utter, in which he proclaimed 
the guilt of the chief conspirator, and disclosed the 
character of his plot, showing himself fully informed 
upon all his machinations and intentions, the daggers 
he had appointed to be drawn, the fires he had ordered 
to be kindled. He dared not even yet brin^ the criminal 
to justice; he dared not expose himself to a charge of 
arbitrary violence ; but as soon as the traitor should 
actually repair to the camp of Mallius, which had be- 
come his only resource, there would be no room for 
doubt, nor for an imputation of extra-legal tyranny. 
Then, but not till then, would he reveal the proofs he 
already possessed of the charges he had not shrunk from 
uttering. Catilina fell into the snare, from which, in- 
deed, in the silence of his friends and sympathizers, if 
such he had, there was no escape. He rushed wildly 



B.C. 63. The Conspiracy betrayed. 5^, 

out of the chamber, exclaiming that, driven to destruc- 
tion by his enemies, he would smother the conflagration 
of his own house in the ruin of the city. At nightfall 
he quitted the city, and threw himself into the quarters 
of his armed adherents in Etruria, exactly as Cicero an- 
ticipated and desired. 

The chief of the conspirators had thus declared him- 
self a public enemy. There could now be no hesitation 
about proceeding against him. But he had left behind 
him the main body of his adherents, and it was the con- 
sul's aim to sweep all these into his net together. The 
opportunity was at hand. The Allobroges, a people of 
the Transalpine Province, had sent envoys to Rome 
to complain of some ill-treatment to which ^, 

The conspira- 

they had been subjected by the officers of tors betrayed 

., , ,. rr.1 • . .• 1- J and arrested. 

the republic. Iheir representations had 
met with no countenance from the senate, and they 
were about to return home, disappointed and sullen, 
when the emissaries of the conspirators came about 
them, and urged them to raise their countrymen against 
the government in concert with the rebellious movement 
in Etruria. It occurred to them, however, that they 
might win the favor of the senate by betraying these 
desperate machinations ; and they had no scruple in 
doing so. Cicero enjoined them to lend an ear to the 
persons soliciting them, but to insist that the terms pro- 
posed should be given them in writing. He then took 
measures to intercept them on their way home with these 
proofs of the conspirators' guilt in their hands. The 
consul could now come before the senate in the face of 
the chief associates themselves, and produce the fatal 
letters attested by their names and seals. Overwhelmed, 
as they were, with confusion he gave them no oppor- 
tunity of escape. He placed them all in secure keep- 



54 The Roman Triumvirates, ch. hi. 

ing, with the most trusty of his own adherents, while he 
declared to the people crowding anxiously at the doors, 
that they were convicted of correspondence with the 
foreign invader. The populace was ready to believe 
that the Gauls and Etruscans were advancing once again 
to the sack of Rome. To save their homes and altars 
from such a catastrophe, no act of vigor could be too 
prompt and decisive. 

An opportunity now presented itself to the nobles for 

impeaching Caesar as an accomplice in the conspiracy 

thus fully detected. Catulus himself, one 

mors'^cSn-'" of the most moderate of their party, urged 

demned by t^g consul to take this energetic step ; but 

the senate. ° '^ 

Cicero firmly refused to do so. He may 
have felt assured of Caesar's innocence ; at any rate, he 
doubted the possibility of securing the conviction of a 
man so able and so popular, and he shrank himself 
from precipitating a crisis between the opposing factions. 
On the contrary, he affected to show his confidence in 
Caesar's loyalty by putting one of the crimmals in his 
special custody. The greatest difficulty was still to be 
overcome. Nine of the conspirators had been de- 
nounced, five were convicted and confined, but the 
nature of their punishment was not yet determined. 
The law of the republic, as interpreted at least by the 
patricians, invested the chief magistrate with power of 
life and death on the senate issuing its "ultimate decree " 
to " provide for the safety of the state." Armed with this 
sanction bold men had more than once slain presumed 
traitors, and the senate had loudly applauded them. 
But against such a stretch of prerogative the commons 
had vehemently protested. They had appealed to the 
principle of the law which forbade any citizen to be put 
to death except by the vote of the tribes. Nor could the 



B.C. 63. Sentence against the Conspirators, 55 

tribes themselves prevent a citizen from evading even 
their sentence by voluntary exile. Cicero indeed had 
contrived, by implicating the conspirators in treasonable 
practices with the foreigner, to get them declared per- 
duelles, or public enemies, whereby they were deprived 
of their strict rights of citizenship. Nevertheless, it 
would have been a daring thing to put them to death by 
his own authority. The senate had thrust the sword 
into his hand, but he was careful to slip it back. He 
summoned the senators to meet again, and while the 
streets were patrolled by their armed clients, and the 
adherents of the oligarchy kept watch before their place 
of assembly, he invited first Silanus, as consul designate, 
to deliver his opinion. Silanus pronounced boldly for 
death. All the consulars, the most distinguished and 
experienced of the members, followed on the same side. 
Crassus had absented himself. Caesar, it might be 
thought, would be cowed by the strength of the adverse 
vote, and direct his followers to the same conclusion 
with it. But the leader of the people, with rare courage, 
rose in opposition. He pronounced, not for death, but 
for imprisonment and forfeiture, which, indeed, he pre- 
tended were penalties worse than death. His speech 
made a great impression upon the timid and vacillating 
assembly. One after another all that followed, includ- 
ing Quintus Cicero, the consul's brother, voted with him. 
Silanus even deigned to qualify his own judgment. 
Cicero tried to stem the turn of the tide by showing the 
obvious peril of half measures at such a crisis. But 
Cicero's influence with the optimates was never great. 
They distrusted the new man, who had plainly gone too 
far for his own safety, and might be striving, from selfish 
motives, to implicate them in the consequences. Selfish 
themselves, and as cowardly as selfish, they would have 



56 The Roman Triumvirates. CH. iii. 

cast him off even at the last moment, had they not been 
swayed back by the energy of Cato, who, rising among 
the last, as one of the least eminent of the body, pro- 
nounced for the execution of the traitors in a tone of 
deep conviction and unflinching courage. The sentence 
of death was delivered in Cato's own words. The 
knights, who waited impatiently for the result, were furi- 
ous at the obstruction Caesar had thrown in the way of 
justice, and as he passed out of the temple of Concord, 
the place of assembly, could hardly be restrained from 
falling upon him. Some of the younger senators carried 
him off in their arms, and among them was C. Scri- 
bonius Curio, who afterwards played a notable part in 
his public career. 

The consul had thus armed himself with sufficient 

powers. He allowed of not a moment's delay, but went 

himself to the house where Lentulus was 

Their exe- detained on the Palatine, and led him with 

cution, ' 

his own hand to the Tullianum, the prison 
under the Capitoline. The other culprits were brought 
to the same spot by the magistrates who had them in 
custody. The executioners were at hand. Lentulus was 
strangled first, and Cathegus, Gabinius, Statilius, and 
Ceparius, all men of eminence, suffered successively. 
The consul attended to the last, and as he traversed the 
Forum on his way homeward, he muttered to the crowd, 
who were anxiously looking for him, " They have lived." 
The people accepted the intimation of their fate without 
applause, but also without a murmur. 

The state was saved by this prompt execution, but 

the treason still survived. Catilina himself 
Defeat and ^^^ ^t large, and his occult conspiracy had 
lina, early in burst forth into Open rebellion. The crisis 
B.C. 62, was still a grave one ; but Cicero had cal- 



B.C. 62. Defeat of Catilina. 57 

culated the risk beforehand, and was confident of his 
power to control it. He had associated the senate in a 
deed of blood which could only be justified by success ; 
and at the same time, by proving to them the power 
which they could really wield, and the strength of their 
position if they would act up to it, he had encouraged 
them to defy the factions of the city, and to regard even 
the great Pompeius himself as their minister and not 
their master. The patron they suspected and feared 
had withdrawn, he might say, from the city, and left 
them exposed to the evil designs of the Marians, and to 
every other criminal ambition ; but trusting in them- 
selves alone they had exposed the machinations of their 
enemies, slain many of their leaders, and driven the 
remnant to make their last stand in a position in which 
they could be easily exterminated. The presence of 
their hasty levies had already put down the movements 
of insurrection throughout the greater part of Italy. In 
Etruria alone the resistance was still obstinate. Cicero, 
however, had purchased the co-operation of his colleague 
Antonius by ceding to him the province of Macedonia ; 
and while this vacillating leader was allowed to hold the 
ostensible command of the troops in front of Catilina, he 
was placed actually under the control of more trusty 
lieutenants, Sextius and Petreius. At the same time 
Metellus Creticus, a loyal officer, operated in the ene- 
mies' rear, cut off his recruits from the Cisalpine, and 
was ready to intercept his retreat. Catilina had col- 
lected 20,000 men, but they were imperfectly equipped 
and disciplined. He despaired of success in arms, but 
he exerted all his artifices to win over the chiefs of the 
armies opposed to him. But delay was fatal. The bulk 
of his levies deserted him. Antonius might feign sick- 
ness to excuse his own want of activity ; but his place 



58 The Roman Triu7nvirates. CH. iii. 

was supplied by more determined opponents, and Cati- 
lina, reduced to extremity, could only fling himself des- 
perately upon their hostile array, and sell dearly his own 
life and the lives of his few devoted adherents. His 
body was found in advance of his own lines among a 
heap of slaughtered enemies. His hea*l was sent to 
Rome to assure the senate of their triumph, and the 
issue of the battle of Pistoria raised their spirits to a pitch 
of intoxication. They were now prepared to defy Pom- 
peius ; Caesar and Crassus they despised ; they had 
made good use of the talents of the upstart Cicero, and 
henceforth they could afford to throw him away when- 
ever it should appear expedient to do so. 

The conspirators had been put to death on December 5, 
B.C. 63, as the calendar then stood. The defeat and slaugh- 
ter of Catilina did not take place till March, 
controversy B.C. 62. In the interval Silanus and Murena 
with Cato. -j^^^ taken their seats as consuls. Sulpicius, 
the great jurist of the republic, had been defeated at the 
election in the previous summer, and had accused his suc- 
cessful opponents of bribery. Cicero had exerted himself 
to stifle a struggle between men who were all adherents 
of the same party in the state ; but Cato had resented the 
misconduct of the consuls designate, and had supported 
with vehemence and pertinacity the suit of the defeated 
candidate. Cicero undertook the defence in person ; nev- 
ertheless, he refrained with great tact from embittering the 
untoward dispute, and confined himself to good-humored 
banter of the impracticable principles of the Stoic philo- 
sopher, raising a laugh against him, which Cato himself, 
with equal good humor, retorted. " See what a witty con- 
sul we have !" was the only remark he made upon it; 
nor did he harbor any feeling of displeasure against the 
orator who both ridiculed and defeated him. 



B.C. 62. Intrigues against Cicero, 59 

Caesar had already obtained the praetorship in the 
elections for the year 62. Pompeius, with his eye still 
on the city, had sent his creature, Metel- , . 

' . Intrigues 

lus Nepos, to secure one seat at least in and distur- 
his interest on the bench of tribunes. Cato the city, 
was in the act of withdrawing in disgust b!c!^2.' 
from the city, when he met the agent of the 
ambitious pro-consul on his route to the scene of election, 
and determined himself to return for the purpose of 
thwarting his manoeuvres. He presented himself to the 
tribes at the comitia, and obtained a place among the 
tribunes along with the opponent whom he had set him- 
self to watch and baffle. But the nobles had greater 
cause of alarm from the rising estimation of Caesar, 
whom the people were taking more especially into favor. 
After the daring act by which Lentulus and his associ- 
ates had been so summarily punished, they trembled for 
the safety of one whom the nobles had chosen to suspect 
of complicity in their plot. On one occasion when he 
happened to be detained longer than usual in the senate- 
house, they surrounded the place and tumultuously de- 
manded to be reassured by his actual appearance. 
Caesar was nothing daunted. He continued to vex and 
harass the leaders of the optimates. Catulus had been 
appointed, as the most eminent of the ruling party in 
the state, to carry out the restoration of the Capitol after 
the conflagration under Sulla. He might now expect 
that his name should be honorably commemorated on 
the front of the new edifice. But Caesar audaciously in- 
terposed with a charge of malversation, and urged the 
people to demand that the honor of the auspicious work 
should be transferred to Pompeius. This was, perhaps, 
a mere bravado. The nobles, by great exertion, suc- 
ceeded in warding off the blow, and the name of Catu- 



6o The Roman Triumvirates. CH. in. 

lus was duly inscribed on the great national monument. 
But they were not only irritated by the affront ; they 
were alarmed at the design which lurked too plainly be- 
hind it. Metellus Nepos, in the interest of his patron, 
connected himself with Caesar and the popular dema- 
gogues. Cicero had been the cherished instrument of 
the senate, and he now struck at the senate through 
Cicero's side. The consul, on resigning the fasces, 
made an oration to the people, and proudly declaimed on 
the subject of his own patriotic exertions. But Nepos 
abruptly interposed. "The man," he said, "who con- 
demned our fellow-citizens unheard shall not himself be 
listened to." He required the orator to confine himself 
to the customary oath that he had done nothing con- 
trary to the laws. " I swear," exclaimed Cicero, "that 
I have saved the state ! " The nobles shouted applause ; 
Cato hailed him as the " father of his country ; " and 
the great mass of the citizens added their acclamations, 
and put down the oppositions of the factions. Nepos 
threatened the senate with the recall of Pompeius, osten- 
sibly to crush Catilina, who at this moment was not yet 
hunted down, but really to overbear its influence in the 
city. Cato vowed that he would resist such a motion to 
the death, A scuffle ensued, in which Cato was perhaps 
the first to employ actual violence. Nepos profited by 
his colleague's indiscretion to declare his sanctity vio- 
lated, and to flee, as if for safety, to his patron's camp. 
The senate retorted by asserting that he had himself 
vacated his office, inasmuch as the tribune was forbidden 
by law to quit the city. At the same time it suspended 
Caesar from his functions as praetor, and when he re- 
fused to resign his fasces, extorted them from him by 
military force. 
Caesar retired with dignity to the inviolable asylum of 



B.C. 62. Crassus unites "with Ccesar. 61 

the Regia, the official residence of the chief pontiff, and 
there calmly awaited the result of this im- 

,. . r rr-i 1 1 Cicero takes 

politic act of power. The people soon ral- his part with 
lied round him, and compelled the nobles J-hy °"^^''' 
to retrace their steps. Cicero meanwhile, 
alarmed for his own position, counselled moderation. 
When Vettius, one of his spies in the affair of Catilina, 
insisted on proclaiming Caesar's complicity in the plot, 
the senate refused to listen to him. Cicero himself took 
pains to appease Crassus, and restore him to the con- 
fidence of the optimates, who still, however, received 
him coldly. It would have been more prudent to have 
acknowledged him as their chief in conjunction, at least, 
with Catulus, and thus to have secured the services of 
the man who, besides his ample wealth and large per- 
sonal following, was the best of the captains whom they 
might have pitted against Pompeius. But Crassus seems 
to have been eminently unpopular. Descended from 
the long-ennobled stock of the Licinii he might have put 
forth a special claim to the respect of the old patrician 
houses of the commonwealth. His family name might 
serve to remind them of the highest triumphs of Roman 
eloquence at the bar and in the forum. But while his 
great rivals had each their party of devoted adherents, 
he alone conciliated no personal attachments. Cicero, 
whose flatteries extorted a smile from Pompeius, and 
gained more genuine gratitude from Caesar, who soothed 
the wrath even of the surviving friends of Catilina by 
judicious compliances, could make no impression upon 
the ungenial nature of Crassus. Under this discourage- 
ment, he still struggled to maintain a politic union be- 
tween the senators and the knights, the two privileged 
bulwarks of social order. But the perverseness of the 
associates with whom he had to deal rendered the task 



62 The Ro7nan Triumvirates, ch. hi. 

hopeless. The nobles spurned the knights haughtily 
from them. Cato repulsed the prayer of the collectors 
of revenue, who sought relief from an imprudent contract 
with the treasury. The chasm between the two orders 
opened more widely than ever, and Cicero at last re- 
solved to throw himself wholly into the arms of the 
oligarchy, who really despised him, and reject the ad- 
vances of the class to which he personally belonged, and 
which might have more justly appreciated his merits. 

The coldness with which the optimates persisted in 
treating Crassus naturally induced that important per- 
sonage to connect himself more closely with 
purchases Caesar. Pompeius was at this moment ex- 

of\:asar"" pected back in Italy. Between him and 
Crassus there were ancient grudges and 
actual jealousies. Each was disposed to regard the other 
as his direct opponent, and the main obstacle to his own 
attainment of undisputed ascendency in the public 
councils. When the optimates refused to support Crassus 
in his suit for the consulship, 'they had driven him for 
the moment to ally himself with his competitor, Pom- 
peius ; but in denouncing him as the accomplice of 
Catilina they had reduced him to the alternative of 
making terms with Caesar. This last alliance he now 
strengthened by lending money to the young spendthrift; 
for Caesar was now sunk in debt more deeply than ever. 
His tastes were splendid, his profusion lavish ; every step 
in the career of honors he had purchased with immenso 
sacrifices. His turn had come to take the command ol 
a praetorial province, and the Further Spain had fallen 
to him ; but he lacked means to make the necessary 
outlay. He had already borrowed, as we have seen, of 
his friends and partizans, and wanted, as he carelessly 
said, a sum of 2,000,000/. sterling to be " worth nothing." 



B.C. 62-61. Pompeius returns from the East. ^7^ 

The purse of Crassus was now his last resource, and this 
purse Crassus was content to open to him for the sake 
of the connection it offered him with one whom he re- 
garded as a bold but an obsequious dependent. 

Nor was this the only way in which fortune smiled on 
Caesar's aspirations. At the moment when the violent 
action of the senate against him had at- 
tached his own party more closely to his Clodius pro- 
side, an incident had occurred which threat- mysteries 
ened to create a schism between them. P. Dea. 
Clodius, a dissolute youth and a favorite b.c*^^ 
with the people, had introduced himself in- 
to Caesar's house in female attire, during the celebration 
of the rites of the Bona Dea, from which all males were 
rigorously excluded. Discovered by the outcry of a 
servant-maid who had recognised him, he was hastily 
expelled ; but the affair, which originated probably in 
private intrigue, became known and denounced by in- 
terested parties as a grave public scandal. The senate 
affected alarm ; the pontiffs were consulted ; Caesar's 
wife, Pompeia, seemed to be an accomplice in the 
crime. A solemn inquiry was instituted, and Caesar was 
expected to prosecute the offender, who was a friend of 
his own, as well as a favorite with the popular party. 
The senate passed a decree that he should not quit 
Rome for his province till an affair which thus compro- 
mised his interests had been brought to a conclusion. 
Caesar sacrificed his wife to save his party connections. 
He divorced Pompeia, not, as he said, because he judged 
her guilty, but because, as he proudly proclaimed, " the 
wife of Caesar should be above suspicion." The phrase 
had immense success. The populace were charmed at 
its high-flown magnanimity. The nobles themselves 
smiled — possibly at its ingenuity. Clodius succeeded 



64. Tlie Roman Triumvirates. ch. hi. 

in gaining the suffrages of his judges by favor and 
bribery ; Crassus lent the money, but Caesar was reputed 
to have negotiated the loan. 

The restless adversary of the nobles hastened to quit 
the city for his province, well satisfied at having thrown 
into it the seeds of discord, which would 
Po Jf^his on keep the commonwealth from subsiding into 
Rome''™ ^° ^ s^^^^ °^ settled government until his re- 
u.c. 692, turn. The venture was indeed a bold one, 

B.C. 02. 

but Caesar's calculations proved to be well 
founded. Pompeius had but just returned from the East, 
with a numerous army. He had only to show himself 
at the gates of the city at the head of his legions, and it 
would be impossible to resist whatever demands he 
might choose to advance. He might require the honor 
of a triumph; he might insist on the recognition by the 
state of the acts of his long-protracted government ; 
jealous as the senate was of its authority, and well dis- 
posed to thwart and affront him, it could not dare to 
withhold such marks of approbation. But Pompeius 
was supposed to have further objects in view. He might 
regard himself as the heir of Sulla, and claim the dicta- 
torship. He might emulate the oriental potentates with 
whom he had so long been associated, whose manners 
and principles he had studied; he might aspire to the 
diadem. The times indeed were hardly ripe for such a 
concession ; but the most desperate resistance would 
have been for the moment unavailing. The master of 
the legions was really the master of the commonwealth. 
But Caesar had studied the character of the great com- 
mander, and had taken his measure accurately. Pom- 
peius had not the spirit, nor had he the genius of a 
usurper. It would be too much to say of hmi that he 
was withheld from violence by constitutional and patri- 



B.C. 6i. Triumph of Pompeius. 65 

otic principles. He had never refused the honors or the 
powers, however excessive, that had been thrust into his 
hands. He had never shown abhorrence from the 
shedding of Roman blood, or from other acts of violence, 
when backed by authority legally committed to him. 
But his temper was naturally sluggish, and lacked the 
ardor of a youthful ambition. His advance had been 
too early and too rapid, and everything had hitherto 
yielded to him too easily, to allow him to doubt that the 
same fortune would follow him to the end. He was im- 
bued with a calm conviction that " if fate would have 
him king, fate would crown him," and that no effort was 
required on his part to pluck the fruit which was ready 
to drop into his lap of its own accord. Accordingly, he 
disbanded his army at Brundisium, and proceeded with 
a few officers and a slender escort to the gates of Rome, 
before which he awaited, in the garb of an imperator, 
the moment when they should be opened by a decree 
of the senate to admit him to the glories of the triumph 
he had no doubt well deserved. The nobles were just 
at the height of their self-gratulation. Pompeius en- 
tered Italy at the moment when Catilina was being 
brought to bay in the Apennines. When the arch con- 
spirator fell, they were convinced that they had nothing 
more to fear, and could have no further use for their 
victorious champion. They had just granted LucuUus 
the triumph which he had vainly solicited for three 
years. They now conceded the same reward to Metel- 
lus Creticus. They were in no hurry to associate a third 
commander in the honors due to the conquerors of 
Mithridates. They allowed Pompeius to linger outside 
the walls, haranging the people from time to time in the 
Campus Martins, trumpeting his own services, affecting 
to mete out praise and blame among all parties and per- 



66 The Roman Triumvirates. ch. hi. 

sonages, showing his own uneasiness by his jealous de- 
preciation of Cicero, whom he regarded as a rival 
champion of the senate, and vainly calling for the 
prompt confirmation of his acts, and satisfaction of his 
claims to the triumph. It was not till September in the 
same year that this honor, so dear to every imperator, 
was grudgingly accorded him. He expected 
Pompems!' 3- Solemnity of three days ; the senate would 
u.c 693. indulge him with two only, and he mig:ht 

B.C. 01. ° ' ° 

complain that their unworthy jealousy would 
not allow him to exhibit a large portion of the various 
spoils he had accumulated for the occasion. But he 
could parade a list of 800 vessels, i.ocx) fortresses, and 
300 cities captured, 39 cities re-peopled, 20,000 talents 
of gold poured into the treasury, and the tribute from 
foreign subjects nearly doubled, a goodlier array of ser- 
vices than any imperator before him. 

The great conqueror had now celebrated his third 
triumph. His first had been for victories in Africa, his 
second for the overthrow of Sertorius in Europe ; he had 
now completed the illustrious cycle by inscribing on the 
list the name of Asia. Each section of the globe had 
succumbed to his prowess. Nevertheless, on descend- 
ing from his car the hero found himself alone in the city 

in which he was wont to be thronged by 
becomes un- friends and flatterers. Lucullus was aroused 
wth'the ^''on^ ^is lethargy to attack his former rival 

senate and ^nd depreciate his services. The senate 

people. ^ . J v 

uc. 694. was cold or hostile; Cicero renounced the 

idol of his early admiration. Afranius, the 
consul whom Pompeius had engaged to support his 
interests, failed to obtain the ratification of his acts. 
Flavius, the tribune, sought to obtain a grant of lands 
for his veterans. Cato and Metellus Creticus opposed 



B.C. 6 1. The First Triumvirate. 67 

him ; violence ensued, and the tribune complaining that 
his sanctity was outraged, dragged the consul to prison. 
The senators would have insisted on sharing the insult 
put upon their chief, but Pompeius, ashamed or alarmed, 
gave way once more, and withdrew his demands to a 
more favorable opportunity. He was deeply chagrined 
at the dishonor he had suffered in the eyes of his own 
soldiers. Repulsed by the nobles, he betook himself 
once more to the people, and sought to ingratiate him- 
self with them by popular acts. They had gazed with 
admiration at the splendors of his triumph, and at the 
lavish profusion of his shows ; but his magnificence was 
tasteless, still more did his person and demeanor lack 
the grace of his rival in their affections. Pompeius was 
no doubt in possession of great resources if he could re- 
solve to use them himself; but he had no warm friends, 
no devoted followers or enthusiastic party at his back, 
who would volunteer their services in his behalf, and 
press them upon him. 



CHAPTER IV. 



THE FIRST TRIUMVIRATE OF C^SAR, POMPEIUS, AND 

CRASSUS. 

CiESAR had reached his fortieth year, and had never led 
an army under his own auspices, nor served at all, ex- 
cept in a subordinate rank. He had now 
attained the government of a province, with province, 
the comnjand of a strong military force Spairf""^^'^ 
constantly engaged in the maintenance of 
the Roman occupation of Spain, and ready at any 

F 



68 The Roman Triumvirates. ch. iv. 

moment to be employed in the extension of the Roman 
territory, and the subjugation of the restless tribes on its 
frontier. He had two proximate objects before him — • 
the one to relieve himself from the pressure of his debts 
at home, and amass a fund for future expenditure ; the 
other to attach to his person a handful at least of officers 
and soldiers, to form the nucleus of a great military 
power. He found himself at the head of two or more 
legions ; and the attitude of the predatory tribes of Lu- 
sitania, yet unconquered, furnished a ready pretext for 
action. He carried his Ragles to the shores of the At- 
lantic, and into recesses of the country whither the 
Romans had never yet penetrated, driving the enemy 
before him through the defiles of the Herminian moun- 
tains and across the Douro and the Minho. With a 
rude flotilla, prepared for the service with the usual 
celerity of the Roman ship-builders, he assailed the 
rocky strongholds to which the natives had betaken 

themselves on the coast of Gallsecia, and 
u.c. ^3. could pretend that in one campaign the 

Further Spain was pacified even to the 
ocean. Through the ensuing winter he occupied him- 
self with settling the finances of his province. He pre- 
tended to relieve the exhausted provincials from the 
burden of their obligations; he gave satisfaction at least 
to the Roman residents, their creditors. The booty he 
had extorted, the tributes he had levied, gratified the 
cupidity of his oflficials, and he remitted large sums for 
the liquidation of his own debts at home. Brief as his 
command had been, it constituted, nevertheless, a crisis 
of no trifling importance in his career. It gave him 
confidpnce in his own military talents which he had 
never previously exercised ; it gained him devoted of- 
ficers and adherents ; it freed him from the stress of his 



B.C. 60. The First Triumvirate, 69 

pecuniary embarrassments, and it sent him back to 
Rome a mature aspirant to the triumph and the consulate. 
Accordingly, as the period for the elections drew near, 
Caesar ventured to quit his province, in the middle of 
the year 60, before the arrival of a succes- 
sor. He demanded a triumph for his mili- thTcmsuith p' 
tary exploits, but he was still more anxious ^•^- ^94- 

^ ^ ' ^ B.C. 60. 

for the solid advantages of the consulship, 
for which he offered himself as a candidate. The law 
required that every competitor for the chief magistracy 
should present himself to the people on three stated oc- 
casions in the forum ; whereas the imperator who still 
expected his triumph was not allowed in the interval to 
enter the city walls. This jealous regulation, which 
separated by so sharp a line the military character from 
the civil, had indeed in later times been frequently set 
aside, and Caesar might fairly claim the same indulgence 
which had recently been conceded to LucuUus. But the 
nobles chose on this occasion to screen themselves be- 
hind the letter of the law ; for they made no doubt that 
Caesar, with the vanity common to his countrymen, 
would forego the consulship, from which they were 
anxious to exclude him, and grasp at the shadowy honor 
of the laurel crown and gilded chariot, which they did 
not care to refuse. But the present claimant was not to 
be so trifled with. He waived his triumph, disbanded 
his soldiers, and paced the forum as a private citizen. 
The people, though baulked of the spectacle they dearly 
loved, acknowledged the compliment he thus paid to 
the value of their suffrages. There were, moreover, 
other interests at work to advance the suit of the popu- 
lar candidate, and the nobles were obliged to content 
themselves with simply offering him a colleague from 
their own ranks. 



yo The Roman Triumvh-aies. ch. iv. 

Caesar had evinced not only great self-control in his 
suit for this illustrious office ; he had exerted the special 
talent he most eminently possessed, that of turning the 
interests of others to his own advantage, and securing 

for his schemes the co-operation of his own 
ciies Crass.s most distinguished rivals. His first care on 
ompeius. j^.^ return to Rome was to bring together 
the two men whose mutual jealousy a meaner politician 
would have been most anxious to foster. Crassus had 
never forgiven Pompeius the laurels which he had so 
curtly plucked from him ; Pompeius, having once 
abased the statesman by whose competition he felt him- 
self most nearly touched, had neither the generosity nor 
the foresight to take him again by the hand. Baffled 
himself by the opposition of the senate, he had sullenly 
withdrawn from public affairs, and held himself aloof 
both from friends and enemies. It was the policy of 
Caesar to overcome the mutual repulsion of two such 

important personages, and to open to each 

The First /■ , r i • • • i • i 

Triumvirate of them new views of ambition, m which 
U.C.694. B.C. o. -^^ could assist them both conjointly. 
The formation of the league between these three aspi- 
rants to a dominant power in the state, which is marked 
as the First Triumvirate, constitutes no doubt a signal 
epoch in the history of the republic. It was not, indeed, 
like the Second Triumvirate, which succeeded at a later 
period, a regularly appointed board of three for the ad- 
ministration of affairs. It neither had, nor pretended 
to have, any legal basis ; it was no more than a spon- 
taneous and possibly a tacit understanding, by which 
the parties interested mutually bound themselves to 
advance the special objects of each, leaving the ukimate 
issue of their confederacy to the chances of the future. 
It constituted, in fact, in the eyes of legists and states- 



B.C. 60. Views of Ccesar. 71 

men, a " regtmrrC' or " tyranny,'' a scheme of lawless 
usurpation ; and as such it was ever denounced by the 
mouths of real or pretended patriots. The application 
of the word " regnum" to this unholy combination strikes 
the key-note of Lucan's rhetorical poem on the civil 
wars which followed upon its rupture ; but the concep- 
tion of such a compact, fraught as it was with the gravest 
consequences, was due to the genius of Caesar alone. 
It was by the ability and conduct of Caesar alone that 
it was carried into execution ; nor was he disloyal to his 
colleagues in carrying it out. It was to the ascendency 
of his own character and talents that he owed the 
superior fortune which abased in turn both his associates, 
and raised him alone to the highest pre-eminence. 

The ambition of Caesar was indeed of a different type 
from that of his two competitors. Pompeius and Crassus 
both aimed at an ascendency over the com- ,^. 

A' lews Or f.h ft 

monwealth, and a posiiion in which they triumvirs 
should be unassailable by the stormy winds "^P®*^"^^ y* 
of the forum and the senate-house. They both regarded 
Sulla, perhaps, as their model ; though neither of them 
was naturally disposed to violence and the shedding of 
blood, they had shown themselves equally capable of 
the most ruthless barbarity. Crassus had nailed thou- 
sands of the captive insurgents to the cross ; Pompeius 
had taken the lives of many distinguished citizens in his 
contest with the Marian faction. He had, as Lucan 
says, "licked the sword of Sulla," and the tiger, as the 
poet also reminds us, never forgets the taste of blood. 
But at all events they would be unscrupulous in grasp- 
ing and in retaining any powers which the state might 
allow them. They would willingly accept the dictator- 
ship if it were tendered to them, and might hardly be 
, expected to surrender it again ; while neither the one 



72 The Roman Triumvirates, ch. iv. 

nor the other had the hardihood to seize an authority 
beyond the laws and traditions of the commonwealth. 
Neither of them understood that the time was come 
when the state could no longer be governed in the spirit 
of the republic of the Scipios, and that whether the old 
forms were still preserved or not, the life of the Rome 
of antiquity had really passed away. Caesar was in- 
fluenced by no such legal superstitions as theirs. He 
could openly declare that the commonwealth was now 
" a body without a soul ;" that the progress of conquest 
had transformed the city into an empire, for the govern- 
ment of which it was necessary to consult the views of 
the vast aggregate of its subjects no less than those of 
their meagre handful of conquerors. All the foreign 
nations and races which had become incorporated in 
the empire looked to an autocracy as the most natural 
and legitimate of all rules. Caesar was determined to 
make himself the interpreter of the great imperial will 
as opposed to the little clique which pretended to sway 
it from the city of the seven hills. He was convinced 
that the world required a despot, and would itself create 
a despot suited to its wants ; it was his ambition to be 
himself the man in whom its wants and its determina- 
tion should centre. Whatever we may think of his 
personal morality, we must acknowledge that it was well 
for the world that a man of genius should arise at such 
a crisis to diVect the general sentiment, and show how 
it could be realized. 

Accordingly, in contemplating the rivalry of these 
three chiefs, we need not scruple to give all our sympa- 
thy to Caesar as compared with either of the 
jMhe^^*^^" others. Nor can we feel much interest in 
nobles. ^^ position of the great body of the Roman 

nobility, who, while pretending to be the defenders of 



B.C. 5 9* Cicero and Cato. 73 

ancient law and usage, were really standing up for their 
class privilege to turn the blood and treasure of every 
other people to their own profit, and to lord it over the 
world as a banded array of tyrants. The nobles of Rome, 
who monopolized the emoluments of universal conquest, 
were, moreover, at this period an effete aristocracy. 
Had they added the possession of talents and conduct 
to their numerous social advantages, they could cer- 
tainly have made head against any one of the triumvirs, 
or against all the three combined. But they were for 
the most part steeped in luxury and corrupted by vicious 
indulgences. With the death of Catulus they lost the 
most honorable of their chiefs, though even- he had 
shown little ability as a leader. Lucullus allowed him- 
self to sink into political torpor, and among the princes 
of the aristocracy none other of greater mark can be 
mentioned. A Scipio, a Lentulus, a Marcellus, bore 
each a great name, but there was no other greatness 
among them. Two personages, indeed, must still be 
mentioned as the real guides of a faction which refused 
the leading of these genuine aristocrats; the one was 
Cicero, the other Cato. Both these men were honest, 
and both had a definite purpose ; both could 
, persuade themselves that the republic might cato'^° *"^ 
be saved by clinging to its ancient traditions, 
and that the commonwealth of the Scipios might still 
be actually revived and perpetuated. Both were blind 
to the real circumstances of the case. Cato was blinded 
by superstition, Cicero by philosophy ; Cato was the 
victim of his ignorance, Cicero of his learning. Both 
lived as it were in a world which he had invented for 
himself, totally unlike that in which his contemporaries 
moved and acted. Cato, indeed, was a man of firm- 
ness and resolution ; Cicero, too, was an enthusiast 



74 The Roman Triu7nvirates. CH. iv. 

himself, and had the gift of arousing enthusiasm in 
others. Much they might have done, indeed they did 
effect much, for the preservation of the commonwealth, 
though certainly not enough to preserve it ; but, in fact, 
a fair chance was throughout denied them. The nobles, 
as a party, gave their confidence to neither, daring in 
their fatuity to despise the courage of the one and the 
eloquence of the other ; for Cato, as we have seen, was 
a noble of the second rank only ; Cicero was a "new 
man ' ' altogether. They alternately flattered and thwarted 
both. 

Besides securing the support of the two most power- 
ful of the citizens, Caesar had connected himself with a 
wealthy candidate, Lucceius, who gladly de- 
attains the frayed a large part of his expenses. The 
ip. nobles who set up Bibulus against this for- 
midable combination entered the field with a vast sub- 
scription for bribing the centuries. Cato himself yielded 
to the urgency of the crisis, and acknowledged that gold 
must be thrown into the balance against gold. Caesar 
and Bibulus were elected ; but the candidate of the 
nobles proved no match for the candidate of the people. 
Caesar aimed at confirminghis popularity by an agrarian 
law for the distribution of public domains among the 
needy citizens. The spoils of the eastern wars had 
placed ample means at the disposal of the state for the 
purchase of land ; the methods which Caesar devised for 
effecLing it were liberal and conciliatory. But the nobles 
refused to be conciliated. Cicero was alarmed at their 
impracticable conduct ; he was himself, perhaps, over- 
come by the fascination of Caesar's genius, and not in- 
sensible to the general justice of the proposal which in 
one shape or another had been brought repeatedly before 
the assemblies. The nobles were willing to make a tool 



RC. 59. CcBsar becomes Consul. 75 

of Cato, who thereupon opposed his veto to the measure 
as tribune ; but Caesar, who could act with at least equal 
decision, directed the lictor to lay hands upon his oppo- 
nent. Satisfied, however, with the vigor of the first 
blow, he refrained from carrying his threat into exe- 
cution. 

Caesar continued throughout his term of office to act 
with repeated violence. His aggressions upon the party 
of the nobles, however provoked, were grossly arbitrary. 
He refused to consult the senate, and declared that the 
comitia of the tribes was competent to make laws with- 
out its concurrence. Even when the people were sum- 
moned to vote for the division of lands, he 
took care to overawe all adverse influence ^oiwit^ 
by fillinsr the city with the armed followers measures in 

. . . . the consul- 

of his ally Pompeius. Bibulus, indeed, was ship, 
not wanting in courage. Summoned by B.cisg? 
the nobles, and backed by Cato and Lu- 
cuUus, he advanced to Caesar's seat, and abruptly dis- 
solved the assembly on the plea of adverse signs in the 
heavens. But the time had passed for rallying upon 
such superstitions. The populace attacked and flung 
him on the ground. Two of the tribunes were 
wounded, Lucullus was nearly killed, Cato dragged by 
main force from the rostra, and the measure carried at 
last by the rout of the opposing party. Caesar had exe- 
cuted the great project of the Gracchi, and proved him- 
self a worthy successor of Marius. He impressed even 
his vain associate with respect for his abilities, and when 
he extorted from the senate the confirmation of the great 
captain's " acts," Pompeius was completely charmed, 
and, blindly or weakly, bound himself in still closer 
aUiance with him by accepting the hand of his youthful 
daughter Julia. 



y6 The Roman Triumvirates. ch. iv. 

Caesar's consulship was indeed an epoch of grave im- 
portance from the expression which it gave to the views 
, of the popular party. When the nobles, 

favor with abashed at their recent discomfiture, shrank 
from all public action, and Bibulus, shut up 
in his own house, proclaimed 2l justitiumy or cessation of 
all business, for the remainder of the year, his colleague 
was proposing measures to the comitia for regulating the 
tribunals, for controlling the proconsuls, and for raising 
the population of the provinces in the scale of Roman 
society. From the first he had avowed himself the 
patron of the provincials, and now that the occasion 
offered he fulfilled the promise of his early career. The 
mob of the forum applauded his liberal enactments, 
from no liberal sentiments of their own, but rather for 
the defiance which they breathed against the faction 
they detested ; and they heedlessly surrendered the 
principles of the constitution, while proposing as an ex- 
cellent jest that the year in which their hero had thus 
been all in all should be inscribed with "the names of 
Caius Caesar and Julius Caesar as consuls." 

While Cato with Favonius, another tribune, as vehe- 
ment but not more efficient than himself, was fruitlessly 
dashing himself against the cool machina- 

Precanous ° ° 

position of tions of this consummate politician, Cicero 

Cicero. . . , - . , . , 

was swaymg uncertamly from side to side, 
attaching himself now to the party of the senate, whose 
coldness alarmed and irritated him, and again courting 
the powerful consul for the sake of the protection which 
he might himself soon require against the intrigues of 
Clodius, who threatened him with impeachment for his 
action in the affair of Catilina. He still continued, in- 
deed, to vaunt the merits of his own famous consulship, 
and descended so far as to solicit Lucceius to sing its 



B.C. 59. Cicero threatened by Clodius. 77 

praises in the work he was composing on contemporary 
history ; but he felt the ground already shpping from 
under him. He had reason to fear that the nobles would 
basely abandon him to his enemies, if they thought that 
they could advance their own interest by so doing. The 
knights, to whose claims he had at first proposed pas- 
sionately to devote himself, proved faithless to the 
champion whose sincerity they might perhaps reason- 
ably question. On all sides it became apparent that the 
ability which he had so nobly exercised had gained him 
no solid and permanent position in the state ; that in the 
absence of high birth and connections, of a large politi- 
cal following, or of strong military supports, the " burgher 
of Arpinum " must despair of guiding the commonwealth 
through the shoals of its civil dissensions. Withdrawing 
from the forum, Cicero now wandered restlessly from 
one of his villas to another, trying to divert his mind by 
study and composition. He persuaded himself, perhaps, 
that he was honorably shrinking from the crafty seduc- 
tions of the various heads of factions. He declined a 
seat at the board for the division of public lands, but he 
sighed for the security which might be afforded him by 
the dignified office of an augur, and such he said, with 
pretended playfulness, was the only bribe he would ac- 
cept. But his enemy Clodius was ingratiating himself 
assiduously with the chiefs of rival factions, and every- 
thing foreboded an attack upon him, against which he 
had no solid defence to offer. 

At this crisis the favor in which the people held their 
champion was increased by the discovery, real or ficti- 
tious, of a plot against his life. Vettius, . , .^. 

, Ambitious 

who had previously accused Caesar of com- policy of 

plicity with Catilina, was seized with a 

dagger on his person, and avowed, it was said, that CatO 



78 The Roman Triumvirates. ch. iv. 

and other nobles had suborned him to assassinate both 
Caesar and Pompeius. The nobles retorted, indeed, 
that the pretended plot was a fabrication of the consul 
himself. The culprit was thrown into prison, and was 
found a few days afterwards dead in his bed. Suspicion 
became rife, and various personages of note were more 
or less implicated in it. But no further light was ever 
thrown upon the subject ; and the state of public feeling, 
already greatly excited, was rendered more uneasy than 
ever. Meanwhile Caesar pursued the object he had in 
view without faltering and without a failure. When the 
nobles had been frustrated in their opposition to his elec- 
tion, they had made a futile attempt to neutralize their 
defeat by fastening upon him the reversion of a petty 
charge, the supervision of the roads and forests in Italy. 
Such a " province " might have contented an indolent 
man of fashion, one who on quitting his chair as consul 
might prefer an easy post at home to the toils and 
dangers of a distant government. But such were not 
Caesar's views, and he was not to be so baulked of them. 
His first command in Spain had satisfied his immediate 
necessities ; he cared not to go abroad a second time 
merely for the sake of plunder, but he was determined 
to place himself at the head of a powerful army, and 
consolidate a basis of military operations. Pompeius 
had made himself an army, though he had since thrown 
it away. Caesar would do no less ; his position would 
not, perhaps, allow him to be equally magnanimous. 
As consul he had been secure, and as proconsul he 
might also effectually protect himself ; but whenever he 
should descend from the vantage of the imperium, he 
might easily fall a victim to the vengeance of the parties 
he had outraged. He had in fact already drawn the 
sword, though it was nine years before he " pa6sed the 



B.C. 59. Ccesar' s political Objects. 79 

Rubicon ;" he could never sheathe his weapon again till 
he had gained the victories of Pharsalia and Munda. 
He resolved to quit the city, gather strength and re- 
sources on the field of foreign adventure, and at the 
fitting season interpose, if necessary, with arms, and 
fling all his enemies under his feet. Beyond that his 
views were vague and misty ; but they were full, no 
doubt, of broad and generous aspirations. In the con- 
fusion of affairs at home, in the manifest debility of the 
senate, and in the corruption of the people, he saw the 
evidence that the days of the free-state were numbered. 
He knew that the government must be reconstructed, 
and he trusted in his own energy and genius to seize the 
right means at the right moment for launching it upon 
a new career, expanded and fortified by the provinces 
which had hitherto enjoyed so little share in it. But his 
own pre-eminence was the first object that occupied his 
field of vision ; and with all his genius and all his mag- 
nanimous impulses, to the last he saw but dimly be- 
yond it. 

But meanwhile the affections of the populace in the 
city had been completely won by the games, the shows, 
the largesses which Caesar had showered 

•4. T-u 4. -u 4- 4. 1 ^ lUyricum. with 

upon It. The tribes contemptuously set the Cisalpine 
aside the paltry commission which the p"ne^Gaulfas- 
senate would have assigned him, and of- signed to 

*^ C_ sesar for his 

fered him, his colleague in vain protesting, province for 
the united provinces of the Cisalpine and 
Illyricum for five years, with an army of five legions. 
The city had been recently alarmed by renewed move- 
ments among the conquered races beyond the Alps. 
The Allobroges had flown to arms at the first outbreak 
of Catilina's insurrection. The Helvetii, from the 
sources of the Rhine and the Rhone, were preparing a 



8o The Roman Triumvifates. ch. iv. 

great national migration westward, which threatened a 
wide displacement of the native populations, and por- 
tended still further revolutions. The apprehension thus 
excited issued in a call for measures of vigilance and re- 
pression. We know not what intrigues were set in mo- 
tion, how Caesar's friends exerted themselves, how Pom- 
peius was cajoled into assisting them, how the nobles 
were baffled or coerced ; but so it was that, in spite of 
Cato's angry warnings, the senate was induced to add 
the Transalpine province to the government, already 
exorbitant, which had been pressed upon their favorite 
by the people. The proconsulate of Caesar in the West 
might now rival the extraordinary eastern command 
conceded to the ambition of Pompeius. Such a pre- 
cedent as that of the Manilian bill could not long re- 
main without its natural consequences, and this second 
representation of the same startling drama was not des- 
tined to pass without a tragic consummation. 

Caesar did not immediately quit the city. He might 
pretend, perhaps, to be still occupied in the completion 
of his numerous levies, but he was no doubt 
tribune,' intent on watching affairs at home before 

Qctro^wUh removing to a distant government. The new 
impeach- consuls, Gabinius and Calpurnius Piso, were 

ment. ' 

u.c. 696. both adherents of the triumvirs, men, it 

^'^' ^ * would seem, of bad private character, as well 

as unscrupulous politicians ; but our accounts of them 
rest chiefly upon the representations of Cicero, who at a 
later period vehemently assailed them. Of the scanda- 
lous reputation of P. Clodius, who now rises into promi- 
nence as a tribune, there can be less question. This 
young reprobate was content to make himself the tool 
of the triumvirs, and aimed at a position in which he 
could effectually serve their projects. Being of the patri- 



B*C. 58. Banishment of Cicero. 81 

cian order he obtained his adoption into a plebeian house, 
to enable him to sue for the tribuneship of the plebs. 
Having attained to this office, he introduced various 
measures for checking the power of the senatorial fac- 
tion. He declared himself the avenger of the men who 
had fallen as alleged accomplices of Catilina, contending 
that Cicero had sacrificed them to his own selfish policy, 
and had exceeded the law in condemning them to death 
unheard. Like the bold tribunes of old, he denied the 
authority of the senate to arm the consul with irregular 
powers for the safety of the state. The "ultimate de- 
cree" was no doubt an irregularity which never had 
been, and perhaps could not be, reduced within the 
legitimate prescriptions of the constitution. Clodius 
threatened Cicero with impeachment. Pompeius and 
Crassus looked on complacently. Csesar, more kindly 
disposed towards him, would have removed him from 
the impending storm by the offer of service under his 
own government or elsewhere; but Cicero, always hoping 
that the state would one day allow itself to be saved by 
his eloquence, refused to quit the centre of affairs, and 
trusted to his own ability to save himself. The nobles 
for their part proved their cruel ingratitude, and did npt 
care to exert themselves in the defence of the upstart 
statesman. The tribune was left free on all hands to 
plant his batteries against him. 

The attack of Clodius assumed the form of a resolu- 
tion of the people in general terms " interdicting fire and 
water" to whosoever should have inflicted 
death on a citizen without giving him an ap- 2iS' the°^' 
peal to the tribes. No culprit was named. banishment 

J^ . ^ of Cicero. 

but Cicero was manifestly indicated. In u.c. 696. 
vain had the senate thrown over him the ^'^' ^ *. 
shield of its decree ; accused by a tribune before the 



82 The Roman Triumvirates. CH. iv. 

people, he could not venture to plead a sanction which 
they would denounce as tyrannical. He descended into 
the forum in the garb of a suppliant, and formally in- 
voked the assistance of his friends and the compassion 
of the multitude. The knights, among whom he had 
many sympathizers, clothed themselves in black, and 
attended his steps as he addressed the citizens from door 
to door. Crowds of the meaner populace swelled the 
mournful retinue. The senators were encouraged to 
mediate in his behalf, and propose a decree declaring 
that the attack now made upon him was regarded as a 
public calamity. But the consuls interposed ; Clodius 
called on the people to resist, raised tumults in the 
streets, and easily proved that his faction was the stronger 
of the two. Cicero threw himself on the protection of 
Pompeius, but was coldly repulsed. Clodius pressed his 
resolution. He convened the tribes in the Flnminian 
circus outside the walls, to give Caesar, who at the begin- 
ning of the year had not yet quitted Italy, an opportu- 
nity of attending. The proconsul reminded the assem- 
bly of his own vote against the capital sentence, and 
repeated his condemnation of it as an act of illegal vio- 
lence. At the same time, with his usual moderation, he 
dissuaded, though perhaps but faintly, the indulgence 
of revenge. Cicero, however, saw that his case was des- 
perate, and fled, hoping to escape at least a public con- 
demnation. But Clodius still pursued his triumph, and 
exacted a sentence of banishment beyond four hundred 
miles from the city. He obtained also a decree for the 
forfeiture of the criminal's estates, gave up his villa at 
Tubculum to be pillaged by the consuls who were his 
bitter personal enemies, and razed to the ground his man- 
sion on the Palatine, consecrating its site to the goddess 
of Liberty, to render its future restitution impossible. 



B.C. 57. Cicero' s Return from Exile. 83 

But the associates of Catilina. were not yet fully 
avenged while Cato, who had most sternly denounced 
them, was still unassailed in person or re- q^^^^ ^p- 
pute. Clodius, with the countenance at rpinted to a 

* ^ dishonorable 

least of his patrons, prepared a snare for mission 

... , - against the 

the immaculate statesman, and sought to king of 
lower his estimation under the guise of Cyprus. 
honorable employment. The tribune, it seems, had a 
private grudge against the king of Egypt, Ptblemaeus 
Lathyrus, and he induced the people to take umbrage at 
this potentate's appointment of his younger son to suc- 
ceed him on the throne of Cyprus. The inheritance was 
a rich one ; there was plunder to be obtained ; and the 
victim was innocent and harmless. By a refinement of 
ill-nature, Clodius imposed upon Cato, through a vote 
of the people, a task unjust and cruel in itself, and one 
to the temptations of which his purity might be expected 
to succumb. Cato, who made it a point of honor to ac- 
cept any charge laid upon him by the sovereign people, 
submitted to become the instrument of their insolent 
wickedness. He executed their orders with inflexible 
strictness, though he mingled some personal kindness 
with the harshness of his public measures. It is re- 
corded, moreover, to his honor that he kept his hands 
free from all taint of corruption throughout this indecent 
transaction. 

The triumvirs meanwhile were satisfied with the 
removal of an importunate opponent for a brief period 
only. The triumphant career of Clodius Thetrium- 
did not extend beyond his single year of virs combine 

' <=> •' to put down 

office. Caesar quitted the city at the same Clodius and 

.• r^- y— t T • 1 . -1 1 -1 recall Cicero 

time as Cicero. Clodius might have shrunk from banish- 
from offending a chief of his vigor and de- '"^'''• 
termination, but he allowed himself to affront the more 

G 



84 The Roman Triumvirates. ch. iv. 

phlegmatic Pompeius, and even laid himself under sus- 
picion of planning his assassination. One of the tri 
bune's slaves was seized, it seems, at the door of the 
triumvir, with a dagger under his clothes, and avowed 
that he had been placed there by his master to commit 
the murder. At the same time the attitude of the popu- 
lace under the unruly tribune's influence, was supposed 
to menace the great man's safety. Pompeius took the 
precaution of withdrawing from public view. He was 
assailed by the mob in his own house, and the consul 
Piso openly took part with Clodius. Pompeius was now 
roused to stronger measures. He detached the other 
consul, Gabinius, from his colleague, lent all his influ- 
ence to the faction of the senate, and obtained the elec- 
tion of consuls of his own choice for the year ensuing. 
The triumvirs now combined to favor the restoration of 
Cicero and the abasement of his enemy. Clodius failed 
to obtain a second year of office. All the new tribunes 
were men disposed to the recall of the patriot orator. 
The new consuls, Lentulus and Metellus, in the very 
first days of their office, proposed it. All the acts of 
Clodius were declared illegal ; his pretended adoption 
into the plebs had been informal ; the bill against Cicero 
was suddenly discovered to be unconstitutional, as being 
diprivilegium, that is, an enactment against an indi- 
vidual citizen. Clodius, indeed, divested of all legiti- 
mate power, ventured to oppose the measure by violence, 
and armed a mob to overawe the debates. The nobles 
were ready to meet force by force. They encouraged 
Milo to lead his gladiators into the streets. For seven 
months the city was infested by licentious rioters on 
both sides. It was a legitimate opportunity for Pom- 
peius to summon his veterans to control the rival fac- 
tions ; but the chief of the army still hesitated to employ 



B.C. 57* Cicero' s Return from Exile, 85 

it, and waited to be himself invoked. The senate would 
not sacrifice its recovered independence, and preferred 
anarchy to submission. It was not till the 4th of August 
that the tribes could at last meet and deliberate un- 
molested, and the recall of Cicero was voted with ac- 
clamation. 

The return of the long-lost patriot might be likened 
to a triumphal procession. From his landing at Brun- 
disium to his entry into Rome he was hailed „ 

. Return (f 

With unbounded acclamations by the volatile Cicero, uc. 
Italians. The citizens, ashamed of the ^'^' ^^' 

favor which they had bestowed upon a worthless dema- 
gogue, greeted with redoubled fervor the real saviour of 
the state, the father of his country. Such, at least, is 
Cicero's own account of his return ; nor is there any 
reason to question its general truth. We may hope, 
however, that he had learnt some lesson from his late 
disgrace ; the hollowness of popular flattery on the one 
hand, the insincerity of aristocratic favor on the other. 
He had been the idol of the multitude and the puppet 
of the nobles; by neither had he been justly estimated 
or admired for his own substantial merits. He must 
have felt that he did not possess that weight in public 
affairs to which his talents and virtues legitimately en- 
titled him. He had failed, partly through the natural 
disadvantages of his position, but in no slight degree 
also from a want of force and simplicity in his own 
character. So it was that his dream of conciliating in- 
terests and classes had vanished ; his countrymen were 
impracticable ; the position was beyond hope ; the state 
was manifestly doomed to perish, and he had saved it 
only for a moment. After all, the great action of his 
life was destined to be cited in history as no better than 
a splendid failure. Wearied out and sickened of affairs 



86 The Roman Triumvirates. CH. v. 

he now withdrew himself more and more from public 
life. Lucullus, Catulus, Hortensius had all done the 
like, perhaps from similar feelings of vexation and dis- 
gust. But the aspirations of Cicero were still noble and 
worthy of his enlightened genius. He now threw him- 
self more devotedly into literary occupations, and sought 
forgetfulness or repose in the philosophical speculations 
of the great masters of thought who had gone before 
him. 



CHAPTER V. 



CiESAR'S CONQUEST OF GAUL — DEATH OF CRASSUS AND 
DISSOLUTION OF THE FIRST TRIUMVIRATE. 

The narrative of the conquest of Gaul by the most con- 
summate captain that ever led the Roman legions — a 
narrative related by himself in a style dis- 
qu^st'of^Gaui. tinguished for its truthfulness and simpli- 
city — must have a special interest of its own 
in the history of the conquering republic. Both the 
military tactics and the admmistrative policy of Rome 
are presented to our view in the commentaries of Caesar 
on the Gallic war. We learn from this lucid record how 
the greatest empire of the ancient or the modern world 
was acquired, and how also it was organized and main- 
tained. The commentaries are, in fact, an epitome of 
the history of Roman conquest. But as regards the ob- 
ject of the present work it will suffice to refer to them 
briefly as a chapter in the annals of the first triumvirate, 
for the light which they throw upon the aims of Caesar 
and the means by which he accomplished them. The 
conquest and the provincial settlement of the Further 



B.C. 58. CcBsar's Campaigns in Gaul. 87 

Gaul occupied the proconsul without interruption from 
the year 696 of the city, when he entered on the com- 
mand, to the year 705, when he relinquished it for the 
conquest of the empire. A vast amount of Roman 
blood and treasure was spent in his successive cam- 
paigns, but the losses of the enemy were no doubt far 
more exhausting. From the date of their subjugation 
by Caesar the Gauls never rose again as a nation in re- 
volt ; but their pacification was due to the wise and libe- 
ral policy of their conqueror even more than to the 
terror of his arms. 

The Gauls had been in earlier times among the most 
formidable enemies of Rome. The citizens could never 
forget that the barbarians of the North had 
once entered and burnt their city. For a ^a^pajj"' 
space of two centuries indeed these invaders ^•^- ^^• 

^ B.C. 58. 

had retreated step by step ; nevertheless, 
from time to time they had again threatened the repub- 
lic with the gravest disasters. Step by step Rome had 
driven them across the Apennines to the valley of the 
Po, and had there subdued and pacified those of their 
tribes that dwelt within the limits of the Alps. She had 
advanced by sea to the coast of Transalpine Gaul; had 
settled her colonies at Massilia and Aquae Sextiae, and 
had penetrated from thence still further into the interior. 
She had eventually organized the " Provincia," her first 
military dependency beyond the Alps ; and to this pro- 
vince, which lay between the Alps and the Rhone, she 
had added a second, which reached from the Mediter- 
ranean to the Atlantic, and was named, from its capital, 
the " Narbonensis." Rome had little now to fear from 
the Gauls, brave and warlike as they were, for they had 
lost their earlier power of combination for attack or de- 
fence, and were for the most part distracted by the mu- 



S8 The Roman Triumvirates, CH. v. 

tual animosity of their various tribes, and by the class 
jealousies of rival parties in each. The Romans could 
easily afford to despise the murmurs of the Allobroges, 
who had pretended for a moment to take a part in the 
revolt of Catilina. But a movement of another kind 
was now in progress among these northern peoples. 
The Helvetii had determined to make a general emigra- 
tion from their own narrow and barren territory, and di- 
rect their course in a body through the centre of Gaul to 
the broad and fertile shores of the Atlantic. The tribes 
of the interior were alarmed ; great disturbances might 
be expected to ensue. The frontiers of the Roman pro- 
vince itself might not be secure. It was deemed neces- 
sary to assume a high tone and forbid the movement. 
Caesar hastened across the Alps, amused the Helvetii for 

a few days with negotiations while he forti- 
the move- ^^^ ^^e banks of the Rhone which they pro- 

HeiveUi'^* posed to cross below Geneva, and forced 

them to take a difficult route to the north- 
ward, and plunge into the country of the ^dui in the 
centre of Gaul. Upon this track he quickly followed 
them, routed them first on the banks of the Sa6ne, and 
thence pursued them to the neighborhood of Bibracte 
(Autun), where he finally crushed them. From thence 

he turned his arms against the Suevi, a Ger- 
the^SuevL rnan tribe, who, under their chief, Ariovistus, 

had crossed the Rhine on a predatory in- 
cursion, and approached Vensontio (Besan^on). Hav- 
ing relieved the more quiet and settled communities of 
Gaul from both these invaders, he set himself to form an 
alliance with some and sow dissensions among others, 
so as to prepare the way, in accordance with the usual 
policy of the Roman conquerors, for the eventual subju- 
gation of all. 



B.C. $8. CcBsar's Campaigns in Gaul. 89 

The ^dui and Averni in the centre of Gaul, the Remi 
in the north-east, were disposed, each with selfish views 
of their own, to aid in the ruin of their com- 
mon country, while they hailed Cassar as se^nd^ 
their protector against the restless Germans campaign 

^ ° against the 

on their eastern frontier. In the second Beigic 
year of his command (u.c. 697) the procon- 
sul broke the confederacy of the Beigic tribes on the 
Meuse and the Moselle. In his next cam- 
paign (698) he worsted the naval power of paign 
the Veneti in Armorica, and reduced for the ^g^netf ^^ 
most part the coast of the Channel, while 
his lieutenants were equally successful in overcoming 
the tribes of Aquitania. In the year 699 Gaul was very 
generally pacified ; but the legions required to be kept 
in exercise ; their officers were greedy of more plunder. 
Caesar had a great military engine to form and to main- 
tain, and he did not scruple as to the means to be em- 
ployed. He advanced beyond the limits of his province, 
threw a bridge across the broad and rapid 
Rhine — the greatest effort of the kind yet paign : cross- 
accomplished by the Roman forces — and RhinlSTd 
penetrated for an instant into the German """y^^.'"'^ °^ 

'■ , Britain. 

forests. This inctirsion indeed had no re- u.c. 699. 
suit. Caesar turned in another direction. ' " ^^" 
In the autumn of the same year he made a descent with 
two legions upon the coast of Britain. Having beaten 
the natives of the Kentish territory in some slight en- 
counters, but suffered at the same time much injury to 
his vessels from tides and storms, he withdrew hastily 
into winter quarters in Gaul. In no way dis- 
couraged, however, he again attacked the scent"on *" 

Britons in the succeeding summer, and Britain. 

*=* ' u.c. 700. 

after beating down the opposing for- 



9© The Roman Triumvtra/es. ch. v. 

ces, effected the passage of the Thames at a ford above 
London. There is reason to beheve that he pene- 
trated into the interior as far as Verulamium, in Hert- 
fordshire. An important discovery of coins of Juhus 
Caesar seems to indicate that a detachment at least of 
his forces was for a moment advanced some miles to the 
north of that spot. But he did not care to effect a per 
manent lodgment in our island, which would have weak- 
ened his position in Gaul. He v/as content to retire with 
the promise of a slender tribute, and this was probably 
never paid after his departure. He had occupied his 
troops, he had amused the people at Rome, who listened 
with delight to their hero's despatches, and he had al- 
lowed affairs at home to ripen for the crisis to which, 
through his partizans, he was gradually urging them. 

During the progress of his campaigns the proconsul's 

vigilance had indeed never been entirely diverted from 

the march of events in the city. After each season of 

military operations he had repaired to the baths of Lucca, 

at the southern limit of his province — for 

Caesar con- 
certs with the laws forbade an imperatorto enter Italy 

virs at while retaining his command — and there 

Lucca. -^^^ concerted, with the friends who flocked 

to him from Rome, the measures most conducive to 

their common interests. During his absence the bands 

of the triumvirate had become relaxed. Pompeius and 

Crassus, always cold to one another, were pursuing their 

own private objects, each hastening as he thought to the 

attainment of supreme power. Cicero had attached 

himself to Pompeius; and, a scarcity of corn occurring, 

he moved that an extraordinary commission should be 

assigned to his patron for supplying the necessities of the 

capital. The republic had now become familiar with 

these monopolies of power. The consuls assented, and 



B.C. 57. Extraordinary Commissions. 91 

for the third time Pompeius wa^ placed above the laws. 
He was authorized to demand supplies from any part of 
the empire, and to fix the prices at his own discretion. 
The officers to be employed, and enriched by the em- 
ployment, were to be appointed by himself; p^^ extra- 
his powers were to be continued for five ordinary 

" commission 

years. Cicero himself accepted a place on assigned to 
the commission. The whole scheme was a u c 697. 
mere pretence for putting the great captain ^'^' ^'^' 
at the helm of state which four years before he had un- 
warily abandoned. But Pompeius, from carelessness or 
incapacity, failed to gain any accession of strength from 
the powers thus thrust upon him. With ample means 
of encouraging his friends and purchasing his enemies, 
he found himself more than ever exposed to the intrigues 
of the nobles and the violence of the mob He was de- 
feated in suing for a further appointment which now 
offered itself as a prize for contending factions. The 
republic seems to have postponed the acceptance of the 
king of Egypt's legacy. The story of this legacy is in- 
deed obscure and doubtful. The reigning 
sovereign, Ptolemasus Auletes, had at this restoration 
juncture been expelled by his subjects, and ^\^^^ ^'"^ 
the senate proposed to restore him. The u.c. 698. 
public man to whom this business should be 
committed would require the command of an army, and 
doubtless would reap for himself fame, power, and emolu- 
ment. The government desired to send one of their own 
party. The consular Lentulus and some tribunes in the 
interest of Pompeius interposed, alleging an oracle of 
the Sibyl to the effect that the king must not be restored 
" with a multitude ; " a phrase which was deemed to 
preclude the use of an armed force. Lentulus was 
baffled ; the appointment, army and all, was still open. 



92 The Roman Triumvirates » ch. v. 

But when Pompeius, through his creatures, demanded 
it for himself, he could succeed no better. The turbu- 
lence of the popular demagogues rendered any decision 
impossible. The city became once more a prey to in- 
ternal tumults ; the nobles threw themselves 
banccs'in again on the support of their licentious 

the city. champion, Milo. At such critical moments 

omens are never wanting to stir the popular feeling. 
The statue of Jupiter on the Alban mount was struck 
with lightning, an event which caused general conster- 
nation, as a presage of impending calamity. Clodius 
seems to have sown dissension between Pompeius and 
Crassus. At the same time the senate was emboldened 
to talk of recalling Caesar from his province, and ex- 
posing him, unarmed, to impeachment and exile, or 
even death. 

Towards the close of the year 698 the proconsul had 
repaired, as in the previous winter, to his station at 
Lucca; and thither consulars and officials of all ranks 
flocked from the city to meet him. A hundred and 
twenty lictors might be counted at his door, while two 
hundred senators, nearly one-half of the whole order, 
paid their court at his receptions. All these magnates 
returned to Rome charmed with his affable 
Lucca ^^^'" ^'^ manners and his full-handed generosity. 
u.c. 698. All were rapidlv coming to the conclusion 

B.C. 56. K - t. 

Impending that the reign of equal law was approaching 
free -state. ^ its end, to be succeeded by the ascendency 
of a popular hero. The fatal crisis had 
indeed almost arrived. The machinery of the free-state 
could perform its functions no longer. The consuls and 
tribunes, the senate and the people, mutually checked 
each other's movements, and paralyzed the action «f 
the body politic. The elections for the ensuing year 



B.C. 56. Growth of Anarchy in Rome. 93 

were impeded, the consuls interposing under pretence 
of adverse auspices, and forbidding the tribes to assem- 
ble. Meanwhile they abstained in person from all the 
duties of their office, clad themselves in mourning, re- 
frained from the spectacles and from the solemn festival 
on the Alban mount, as men under constraint of the 
mob and deprived of their legitimate power. When at 
last the consuls* chairs became vacant no successors had 
been duly appointed. The year 699 opened with an in- 
terregnum. While riot reigned at home there could be 
little check upon license abroad. Gabinius, as procon- 
sul of Syria, took upon himself to set Ptolemaeus on his 
throne at Alexandria, in defiance of the recent veto of 
the senate. Meanwhile, the impatient candidates, dis- 
regarding the legal forms of an interregnum, induced 
the tribunes to convene the people irregularly. While 
the nobles employed bribery for their nominee Domi- 
tius, the younger Crassus arrived from Gaul with a de- 
tachment of Caesar's veterans, and overbore all opposi- 
tion. The new consuls, Pompeius and Crassus, having 
thus obtained their appointment by vio- 
lence, secured the other offices for their '^•^ ^9- 

B-c. 55 
friends by similar outrage. Cato, who had 

returned from his mission to Cyprus without stain of 
pecuniary corruption, now sued for the prastorship, but 
was mortified by a rejection, which was rendered doubly 
vexatious by the infamy of Vatinius, whom the triumvirs 
exalted over his head. 

Caesar had induced his colleagues to smother their 
mutual jealousies. He next secured for 
them, by the intervention of the tribune Tre- maS'extenXd ^. 
bonius, the important provinces of Spain for a second 

, term of five 

and Syria on their descent from office. In years. 
return he obtained, through their assist- b.'c^s^ 



94 Th^ Roman Triumvirates. ch. v. 

ance, the extension of his own command for a second 
period of five years. They could urge that the re- 
gions which he had so quickly conquered were but 
half pacified, and as yet imperfectly organized. Caesar 
himself looked forward to confirming his influence 
over his legions, while he anticipated the decline 
of his rivals' power in the interval. The resistance of 
the nobles to a measure which proved so fatal to them 
was petulant rather than determined. Cato, who had 
lost much of his authority by daily collision with violence 
and vulgarity, and Favonius, a party brawler rather 
than a political leader, were the most active champions 
of a faction from which Lucullus, Servillus, and Lentulus 
now held themselves aloof. The tribunes on difi"erent 
sides engaged in the petty warfare of obstructing public 
ways and locking the doors of civic buildings. Cato 
got himself lifted on men's shoulders in order to force 
his way into the place of meeting, and employed the 
stale trick of declaring the auspices adverse. He was 
answered by the brandishing of clubs and showers of 
stones ; swords and daggers were drawn in the affray, 
and the friends of the optimates were driven from the 
arena, not without bloodshed. Such were the tumultu- 
ous proceedings by which the desperate policy of the 
triumvirs was ratified. It was in one of these scenes 
of violence that the robe of Pompeius became sprinkled 
with blood. On his return home thus disfigured he was 
met by his youthful consort Julia, who was 
Death of alarmed for his safety. Horrified at the 

Julia. •' 

sight, she was seized with premature labor, 
and died from its effects shortly afterwards. 

Pompeius, notwithstanding his coldness in public 
affairs, was a man of strong domestic sensibility. The 
loss of his young wife affected him deeply, and made 



B.C. 54. Crassus attacks the Farthtans. 95 

him perhaps more than ever supine and „ , 

^ *^ ^ '■ Relative posi- 

sluggish in the prosecution of his interests, tion of the 
He might otherwise have turned to good this period. 
account an event which cut through the en- ^•^" l^ 

<=> B.I.. 54. 

tanglements of his personal connection with 
his rival. The supereminent position he now enjoyed, as 
the head of an important commission, and the chief of 
a large army which he could command from beneath 
the walls of Rome, gave him an immense advantage 
over Caesar, who was engaged, at a great distance, in a 
long and still precarious warfare ; and over Crassus 
also, who at the same moment was rushing blindly upon 
an arduous expedition. Caesar had conquered the 
Gauls, and could pretend that he had received their sub- 
mission ; but the Belgic tribes were again in arms, and 
his enemies at home might anticipate at any moment 
his defeat or death. Crassus, in undertaking the govern- 
ment of Syria, had announced his intention of making 
war upon the Parthians; and he, too, now advanced in 
years and long disused to arms, might soon succumb to 
a formidable foe in a difficult country. The nobles, 
indeed, who had little fear of him at home, were jealous 
of his possible success abroad, and induced one of the 
tribunes to denounce his enterprise as a national crime, 
and stir up the superstitious feelings of the people 
against it. But Crassus was not deterred by the direful 
omens which were said to attend his exit from the city. 
On arriving at the seat of his government he directed 
the advance of troops to the Jtuphrates. He entered 
the region of Osrhoene, capoired some ^ 

J 1 1 . , J, . Crassus pro- 

towns, and placed m them Roman garri- consul in Syria, 
sons, before he returned to his headquarters b.c. 54° 
for the winter. When the Parthian govern- 
ment complained of this unprovoked aggression upon 



96 The Roma?i Triumvirates. CH. v. 

their dependency, the proconsul replied that he would 
give them an answer in their capital, Seleucia. As soon 
as he had completed his preparations, he led a force of 
several legions across the desolate and arid district be- 
tween the Euphrates and the Tigris. The Parthians had 
determined to let him advance to a certain distance un- 
opposed ; they had directed an officer of their own to 
offer his services as guide, and lead him into the am- 
bush which they had prepared for him. The Roman 
troops had become exhausted and demoralized under a 
chief in whom they had no confidence. When they 
turned back disheartened, the Parthians closed around 
them with their clouds of light cavalry, and inflicted 
upon them disastrous losses. At last the Romans sus- 
tained a crushing defeat under the walls of Carrhae. 
The son of Crassus, a gallant young officer 
Carrhse. from Caesar's army, was slain; and the pro- 

uc. 701. consul, stricken with grief and shame, 

B.C. 53. ' . 

deemed it more prudent to negotiate than 
to hazard a rapid flight. The Parthians deceived and 
entrapped him, and Crassus himself was slain in a futile 
attempt at rescue ; the main body of his army was cap- 
tured, and carried away into the interior. A small 
remnant only was saved by the prompt vigor of C. Cas- 
sius Longinus, and led back within the frontiers of 
Syria. The overthrow of Carrhae was one of the gravest 
disasters ever sustained by the Roman arms. It is said 
that 20,000 were slain and 10,000 carried into captivity. 
The officers were treated with scorn and mockery ; the 
head of Crassus was cut off, and molten gold, according 
to the story, was poured into the mouth of the most 
avaricious of the Romans ; but the captives seem to 
have been treated with indulgence and allowed to settle 
in the land of their conquerors. 



B.C. 53- Revolt in Northern Gaul. 97 

The mass of the citizens at home appear to have re- 
garded this discomfiture with comparative indifference ; 
so httle was Crassus loved or respected Cses^r's 
among- them ; so distant was the scene of P'^'^'^, '^^ . ^ 

*=" ' (jaul : sixth 

operations. It was not till a later period, year of the 

, , 1 ,. . , . , Gallic war. 

and under other political circumstances, u.c. 701. 
that so signal a defeat was deemed to de- ^-^-ss- 
mandan equally signal reparation. Doubtless, the eyes 
of nobles and people became more intently fixed on the 
position of the proconsul of Gaul, which was becoming 
more and more hazardous. On his return from his 
second expedition into Britain, Caesar had found Gaul 
tranquil and apparently resigned to the yoke. He held 
a meeting of the states at Samarobriva (Amiens), his 
northern capital, and assured himself of their fidelity. 
He had intended to spend the winter at Lucca. But 
meanwhile the tribes between the Loire and the Rhine 
had concerted a wide conspiracy, and only waited for 
the proconsul's departure to rise in arms. Their revolt 
was accidentally precipitated, and Caesar was still at 
hand ; but, cooped up in his own quarters, he remained 
for some time ignorant of the imminent danger to which 
his outlying detachments were exposed. Q. Cicero, the 
orator's brother, was at the head of one of these, and 
could with difficulty notify his peril to his chief by a billet, 
inscribed with Greek characters, shot into his camp. 
The vigor and genius of Caesar now prevailed. He re- 
stored tranquillity among the great mass of the insurgent 
peoples ; he made a signal example of the Eburones, 
a tribe of Cimbric origin, whom he delivered over as 
aliens to the blind hostility of the Gauls around them ; 
and with the defeat of the warlike Treviri he seemed to 
have accomplished a second and final pacification of 
the province. But his peril had been great ; his con- 



98 The Roman Triumvirates. CH. v. 

quests were evidently incomplete ; his position was pre- 
carious. Both his friends and enemies at Rome might 
equally doubt whether he would survive the prolonga- 
tion of his foreign adventure. 

The year of the defeat of Carrhas and the sudden in- 
surrection of the Gauls had again opened at Rome with 
an interregnum, which lasted for more than 
o/*PomiJius six months. The flagrant bribery practised 
i" '^^^ by the candidates for office had induced the 

senate. -' 

best of the senators and of the tribunes to 
combine in preventing the assembling of the comitia. 
At last Cato himself became alarmed, and urged Pom- 
peius to assume the functions of a dictator and demand 
an election. The triumvir, released from his connection 
with one colleague, and apprized, perhaps, of the fresh 
embarrassment of the other, gladly drew near to the 
party of the optimates. He interposed to procure the 
election of two chiefs of their faction, Calvinus and Mes- 
sala, and the nobles hailed him once again as the cham- 
pion of their special interests. The calm, however, 
which succeeded was of short duration. The elections 
for the ensuing year were again thwarted ; the year 702 
opened, like the preceding, with an interregnum. As- 
suredly Pompeius could have controlled the disorder; 
but he seems rather to have assisted it. Milo, Scipio, 
and Hypsaeus demanded each the consulship with arms 
in their hands ; every day was marked with fresh riot, 
and blood was frequently shed. But amidst the obscure 
murders which marked this era of violence and ferocity, 
there was one which caused especial sensation, and de- 
manded stronger measures of repression. It happened 
that in the month of January of this year, Milo was jour- 
neying on the Appian Way, accompanied in his carriage 
by his wife, and attended by a retinue of servants, and. 



B.C. 52- Death of Clodius. 99 

as was his wont, by a troop of gladiators. 

Near to Bovilte, a few miles from the city, ciodius^/* 

he was met by Clodius, who was on horse- ^•^- 7°^- 

•' ' B.C. 52. 

back, with a small company of armed men 
around him. It does not appear that the affray which 
ensued was premeditated, for to travel with armed at- 
tendants was not unusual, and both Milo and Clodius 
were men who might apprehend the violence which they 
had themselves often provoked. But a quarrel ensued be- 
tween their respective escorts, and Clodius, wounded in 
the struggle, took refuge in a roadside holstelry. Milo, 
giving way to his fury, attacked the house, and caused 
his enemy to be dragged forth and slain The corpse 
lay in the road till it was picked up by a passing friend 
and brought to the city. Here it was exposed to the 
gaze of the multitude, who worked themselves into 
frenzy at the sight. A riot broke out; benches, books, 
and papers were snatclied from the curia in which the 
senate was wont to assemble, fire was set to the pile, 
and the flames which consumed the remains of Clodius 
spread from house to house over a considerable space 
bordering on the forum. The rioters proceeded to at- 
tack the mansions of several nobles, and particularly 
that of Milo himself. He was prepared, however, for 
the attempt, and repulsed the assailants with bloodshed. 
The knights and senators armed their clients to suppress 
the commotion, and quiet was at last restored after 
several days of uproar and violence. 

The disorder of public affairs had thus reached a crisis 
which demanded exceptional measures for the public 
security. Men of peace who dared not yet Pompeius 
insist upon the appointment of a dictator, appointed 

^ ^r ir ' sole consul. 

men who still clung to the vain shadow of u.c 702. 
constitutional forms, men such as Cicero, 

H 

LofC. 



lOo The Roman Triuinvirates. ch. v. 

fled from the city where there was no longer a people or 
a senate, where the mob held the streets and the tribu- 
nals were impotent or corrupt. The great parties 
which had formerly represented social interests had 
lapsed into mere factions of families or classes, which 
sought power for the sake of public plunder. Few 
honest patriots still continued to haunt the forum, or 
obtrude themselves upon the cabals of selfish oligarchs. 
Cato himself, as we have seen, though unshaken in 
courage, despaired of the ancient principles of the com- 
monwealth. Liberty, he saw, was menaced by two dan- 
gers, within by anarchy, without by usurpation ; and 
when he looked around for a defender he found, even 
among those whom Cicero had designated as the party of 
the "good men," so much cowardice and self-interest, 
that he at last determined to demand from an individual 
that protection for the state which the laws could no 
longer assure to her. " Better," he said, " to choose our 
own master than to wait for the tyrant whom anarchy 
will impose upon us." But there remained in fact no 
choice in the matter. There was as yet only one mas- 
ter at whose feet Rome could throw herself. With bitter 
mortification Bibulus proposed, after an interregnum of 
nearly three months, the appointment of Pompeius as 
sole consul, and Cato supported him. They might hope 
that, content with this pre-eminence, which was less 
odious than that of dictator, though in fact even less 
known to the laws, the great man would restore order in 
the city, and find means for compelling the proconsul of 
Gaul to surrender his province and disband his formida- 
ble armies, The repression of scandalous disorders, the 
overthrow of a licentious ambition, might, after all, it 
seemed, be cheaply purchased by one year of despotism. 
Pompeius was old in years, supine and vain ; possibly 



B.C. 52. Pompeius as sole Consul. joi 

he might be used for the occasion, and thrown away 
afterwards. But if such was the secret reasoning of the 
despairing chiefs of the senate, they did not consider 
how surely the precedent which they were about to set 
would give occasion and color to further attempts, and 
pave the way to the inevitable monarchy. 

The sole consul entered upon his irregular office in a 
month irregularly intercalated, for the • calendar of the 
year had long fallen into confusion, and. like the state, 
required vigorous measures of amendment. " Kind as 
kings upon their coronation day," he vowed that he would 
take Cato as his adviser, and rule the state in the interests 
of freedom. He had taken no counsel with Caesar in the 
matter. He now finally cast off the bonds of alliance 
with his late associate, and devoted himself to the policy 
of the optimates, which he had long felt to be properly 
his own. Twice already he had achieved the lead of 
their party, and twice he had sacrificed it to the pride of 
standing aloof from all connection with men whom he 
deemed his inferiors in influence and ability. The con- 
sulship, which he now held without a colleague, raised 
him above all the citizens in dignity ; but his proconsular 
imperium was far more valuable to him from the actual 
power which it lodged in his hands. He commanded 
legions in Spain and cohorts at the gates of the city, and 
these he would never suffer to be wrested from him, 
while he was prepared to insist on Caesar's return, un- 
armed, to the city. Meanwhile he was content to sur- 
render Milo to the demands of the populace. The 
culprit, arraigned before a select body of eighty-one 
judices, enhsted Cicero in his defence. The great orator 
prepared to assert his chent's innocence, and 
exult in the bold act of self-defence which ^ri^i ^ 

had freed the commonwealth from a danger 



I02 The Ro7na7i Triumvirates. ch. v. 

and a pest. But when he rose to speak he was greeted 
by furious shouts, and was at the same time put out of 
countenance by the display of an armed force which 
Pompeius had introduced into the forum to overawe him. 
He stammered through a short and nerveless oration, 
and sat down with his task only half finished. Milo, 
convicted of murder, was allowed to retire into exile, and 
chose Massilia.for his retreat. On returning home, 
Cicero composed for publication the speech he should 
have delivered in his defence. The story is told that his 
vanity prompted him to send to his client the splendid 
declamation he had penned; and that iMilo replied with 
a sneer, not wholly undeserved, that he deemed himself 
fortunate that so convincing an argument had not been 
actually delivered ; " else," he said, " I should not now 
be enjoying the delicious mullets of this place." 

Pompeius was now at the height of his fortunes. He 

enjoyed all but the name of royalty. The armed bands 

which had kept the citv in an uproar were 

Seventh i- j ' -i,- j 

year of the spccdily dispersed ; tranquillity was restored ; 
u.c. 702. " abundance was secured ; the nobles acqui- 
^•^- 52- esced, and the people were satisfied. The 

only rival he had cause to fear was fiir away and en- 
tangled in increasing difficulties. Caesar had barely 
escaped from the last attack of his revolted subjects, and 
he was now held in so little awe by his adversaries at 
home, that on the occasion of an act of perfidy, which 
might not unjustly be imputed to him, in his dealings 
with the public enemy, Cato had not scrupled to demand 
that he should be delivered up to the Gauls to save, as 
he pretended, the honor of the republic. The demand, 
indeed, was refused or evaded ; but it might give him a 
significant hint of the bitterness of bis enemies and the 
insecurity of his position at home. At the close of the 



B.C. 51. Revolt of Vercingetorix. 103 

year 53, after the second pacification of his province, he 
had repaired, as usual, for the winter to Lucca to watch 
events in Italy ; but fresh plots were in agitation among- 
the Gauls. It was in the centre of their country, between 
the Seine and the Garonne, that the flame burst forth and 
spread rapidly. It was kindled by the Druids, the 
religious caste which was powerful among the Carnutes, 
and was closely connected with the ruling classes 
throughout the country. At Genabus (Orleans, or rather 
Gien), on the Loire, the Roman traders had established 
themselves in considerable numbers ; for the traffic of 
the north and south followed the track of the great 
streams, and the bend which that river makes in the 
middle of its course formed a central point of communi- 
cation between them. The native population rose ; the 
foreigners were surprised and massacred. The com- 
mand of a general revolt was taken by Vercingetorix, a 
chief of the Arverni, the only name among the Gauls 
which attained to any distinction in these wars, and that 
a title, perhaps, rather than a personal appellative. But 
the man who bore it deserves to be better known to us, 
for even in the commentaries of his enemy he stands 
forth as a great military genius, and the struggle which 
he maintained, however brief, was one of the most critical 
in the Roman mihtary annals. Under his command the 
Gauls inflicted a notable disaster upon the invader at 
Gerg'ovia, struck his own sword from his 
hand, and cut off his retreat into Italy. In SistTnce 
this, indeed, Vercingetorix was only too of Vercin- 

° ^ getorix. 

successful. To escape from the Gauls 
would have been to fall into the hands of the enemy at 
home. Had the victor left Caesar but a loophole for re- 
treat, he might have been rid of him for ever. There 
was, however, no alternative for him but to conquer be- 



104 The Roman Triiunviraies. CH. v. 

yond the Alps, or be crushed within them. But his 
forces were still numerous to the north of the Seine ; his 
lieutenant Labienus checked and worsted the tribes by 
which he was himself there assailed, and was enabled 
to join his chief, and sustain him against the attack of 
the populations that were rising behind him. Another 
engagement ensued, and Caesar was this time victorious. 
Vercingetorix led his routed followers to Alesia, near the 
modern Dijon, which he invested with a force of 80,000 
warriors. Caesar pursued him, and completed another 
circumvallation, in which he enclosed these vast num- 
bers, together with a multitude of unarmed fugitives, who 
perished with hunger between the two contending armies. 
The forces of Vercingetorix, after divers attempts to 
break through the blockading lines, were at last reduced 
by famine. Their gallant leader offered himself as a 
sacrifice for them, and the lives of his people were 
spared ; but he was himself ungenerously carried off, 
and reserved for the future triumph of the conqueror, 
and the cruel death of a Pontius and a Per- 

Final con- ... 

quest of sens. The crisis had passed ; the subjuga- 

u.c" 703. t'O'^ of the whole region between the Alps, 

'^•^- 51- the Rhine, and the ocean was completed in 

the following year, the eighth of Caesar's proconsulship ; 
and the spirit of insurrection was daunted, perhaps, by 
the unrelentirig severity with which he chastised it. In 
eight campaigns he had taken, as Plutarch has recorded, 
more than 800 cities, worsted 300 nations, and en- 
countered three millions of men in arms, of whom he had 
slain one million and made an equal number of prisoners. 
Secure as he felt himself in his position at the head of 

^ ,, affairs, Pompeius had been unable to con- 
Feeble ^ 

measurrs of ccivc any large measures for the public weal, 

ompems. ^ ^^ j^^^ providcd, by means of the extensive 



B.C. 51 CcBsar organizes Gaul. 105 

powers committed to him, for the supply of the city 
with corn ; but he had not attempted to grapple with 
the great economical difficulties of the day, under which 
the mass of the citizens was sinking into poverty and 
degradation. The planting of colonies, the introduction 
of foreigners to the privileges of the state, the relief of 
debtors oppressed by hard laws and still harder usages, 
were matters which he left to be dealt with by one who 
should rise hereafter to the true spirit of the dictators of 
old. His laws against bribery, and other specious politi- 
cal measures, were mere palliative expedients Nor did 
he care to observe even these in his own conduct. He 
had interdicted the eulogies which the powerful friends 
of a culprit had been allowed to utter before his judges ; 
but when Metellus Scipio, a magnate of the highest 
standing, whose daughter he had recently espoused, was 
cited before a tribunal, he condescended to speak him- 
self in his favor, and thereby extort an acquittal. He 
had obtained a decree that no magistrate should enjoy 
a province till five years after quitting his office at home ; 
but this enactment, which, however important, was im- 
possible of execution, he promptly violated in his own 
case, by causing his proconsulship to be prolonged for a 
second term, even while he was himself actually consul. 
Again, he had appointed that no man should sue for a 
public charge while absent from the city. The rule was 
intended no doubt as a check upon Cassar ; but he had 
become jealous of his rival's military achievements, and 
when he found it for his own interest to facilitate Cassar's 
election to a second consulship, in order to draw him 
prematurely from his command in Gaul, he made an 
exception to this law also. 

The final reduction of Gaul found the work of pacifi- 
cation already far advanced. Caesar's policy differed 



io6 The Roman Triumvirates. ch. v. 

from that of former governors. The pro- 
ganizaticn of vinces on either side of the Alps had been 
*^^"'' placed under the control of garrisons and 

colonies Portions of their soil had been conferred upon 
such Roman citizens as would exchange security at 
home for lands to be maintained at the risk of their own 
lives abroad. But the ancient policy of the republic 
could not be extended to the vast territories which 
Csesar had now to organize. Nor was it his wish to 
bring Rome, as it were, into the provinces; his object 
was rather to introduce the Gaulish foreigners into 
Rome, and give them an interest in the city of their 
conquerors. The first step towards making them citizens 
was to lighten for them the Roman yoke. Accordingly 
he established among them no badges of subjection in 
the shape of colonies. He left them their realms and 
territories as well as their laws and their religion. He 
allowed to most of them a specious show of freedom. 
They retained their magistrates and senates, guided no 
doubt by Roman agents. The tribute required of the 
provincials was softened by the title of military assess- 
ment. Honors and privileges were showered upon their 
chiefs and cities. But, after all, the manner of the mag- 
nanimous Roman won as many hearts as his benefac- 
tions. When he saw the sword which had been snatched 
from him in his battle with the Arverni suspended in 
the temple of its captors, he refused to reclaim it, saying, 
with a gracious smile, that the offering was sacred. 

But CcEsar had yet another enemy within the bounds 

of his wide dominion. The senate, towards whom his 

position had become one of open defiance, 

SShu^miii- had established a stronghold of its own in- 

taty resources tcrcsts in the cities of the Narbonensis. 

m (jaul. 

From the time that Pompcius had led his 



B.C. 51. Ccesar's legions in Gaul. 107 

legions through that country against Sertorius, driving 
the remnant of the Marians before him, the south of 
Gaul had been filled with the agents of the senatorial 
party, and its resources applied to th'e furtherance of 
their policy. Since his return to Rome Pompeius had 
continued, in fact, to govern the district by the hands 
of Fonteius and other proconsuls up to the time of 
Caesar's appointment. The new governor had set him- 
self to undo the work of his predecessors. He exerted 
himself to recover the favor of the Massilians, by ex- 
tending the strip of territory which they were allowed to 
hold in nominal independence. He rewarded his faith- 
ful adherents, both Roman and provincial, with lands 
and largesses, and placed the government of the country 
in their hands. Meanwhile he kept his legions ready 
for future service. Every cohort, stationed far or near, 
became a depot for the enlistment of the most warlike of 
the natives, whose military spirit prompted them to at- 
tach themselves to the service of so gallant and generous 
a captain. The soldiers, indeed, with whom he had ef- 
fected tha conquest had themselves been principally of 
Gaulish blood; the republic had furnished him with no 
troops from Italy, and a contingent which he had bor- 
rowed from Pompeius he had promptly surrendered when 
it was demanded of him, and trusted himself solely to his 
own levies. The legions numbered the Seventh, Eighth, 
and Ninth, which he had found in the Cisalpine at the 
outset of his career, were probably the forces raised by 
Metellus in that region, when he closed the Alps against 
CatiHna. The Tenth legion had been formed by his 
predecessors in the Transalpine to control the Allo- 
broges. The Eleventh and Twelfth v/ere the procon- 
sul's own hasty conscription within the two provinces at 
the commencement of his first campaign against the 



io8 The Roman Triumvirates. CH. v. 

Helvetii. The Thirteenth and Fourteenth he enhsted 
also in Gaul to oppose the great confederacy of the 
Belgians. 

Of these the latter had been cut in pieces by the 

Eburones ; but another Fourteenth and a Fifteenth also 

were afterwards levied in the Gaulish terri- 

Caesar's levies , • « i, ,. ^ c ^\ 

in Gaul. tones. A small portion only of these war- 

riors could have been of genuine Roman or 
Italian extraction ; they were mainly drawn, no doubt, 
from the native population of the states which had been 
endowed with the "rights of Latium," and thus placed 
by special favor on a footing of subordinate or incom- 
plete citizenship. The legions, however, thus semi- 
Romanized, were attended by numerous foreign cohorts, 
equipped with similar arms, and trained under the same 
discipline. The common dangers and glories of a few 
campaigns, side by side, had rendered these auxiliaries 
no less efficient than their regular comrades. One entire 
legion Caesar did not scruple to compose of Gauls only. 
The helmets of these soldiers were distinguished by the 
figure of a lark, or a tuft of its plumage, whence the 
legion itself derived its name Alaiida. The bird was 
itself no bad representative of the noisy and vivacious 
people who were proud to accept it as their symbol. 
They were glad, perhaps, to escape from the patriarchal 
tyranny of their priests and nobles, and put themselves 
under a discipline, which, however stern, was congenial 
to their military instincts. They admired and loved the 
generous leader who sought to gain the personal attach- 
ment of his warriors as no Roman imperator had cared 
to do before him. Among Caesar's contemporaries it 
was remarked that throughout his Gallic campaigns his 
soldiers never mutinied. Their cheerful endurance of 
toils and privations more dismayed the enemy than their 



B.C. 51. CcEsar' s Position Assailed. 109 

well-known prowess in the field. They could never be 
induced, when captured, lo turn their arms against him, 
while Pompeius and Lucullus, it was said, had constantly- 
been confronted by renegades from their own rank^. 
Gaul had been conquered under Caesar by the Gauls 
themselves, and it was perhaps the greatest of their con- 
quests hitherto. They had indeed gained a triumph 
over Rome in earlier times ; but the triumph had been 
signally reversed and never yet repeated. The day was 
coming when they were about to conquer Rome once 
for all, and establish the throne of the C^sars upon a 
lasting foundation. 



CHAPTER VI. 



RUPTURE BETWEEN C^SAR AND THE SENATE. 

At the end of six months, Pompeius, following the pre- 
scriptive rule of the dictatorial office, divested himself 
of his sole consulship, and caused his father- ^ 

^ . Laesar s 

in-law, Metellus Scipio, to be associated position as- 
with him. He had succeeded in imposing senatorial 
order upon the populace in the city; he had P^^'^y- 
given the tribunals a semblance at least of purity and 
justice, and the senate might seem to recover under his 
shelter some portion of its pristine dignity. To maintain 
this outward show he obtained the consulship for the 
next year for two of its leading members, Servius Sulpi- 
cius, a moderate man and of high character, and M. 
Marcellus, a violent aristocrat devoted to his patron's 
personal interests, while he procured the defeat of Cato, 
whom he regarded as a troublesome interloper. Caesar 
had just effected the destruction of Vercingetorix, and 



no The Roman Triumvirates. ch. vi. 

the people had constrained the senate to decree a " sup- 
plication " or public thanksgiving in his honor, Mar- 
cellus retorted by gravely demanding that the proconsul 
of Gaul should be recalled. The fiercest partisans of 
the oligarchy, confident in the pre-eminent position now 
occupied by Pompeius, supported him vehemently ; but 
their violence disturbed their own champion, who feared 
a renewal of the recent tumults, and this desperate 
measure was overruled. The enemies of Caesar found 
other ways of venting their displeasure. The proconsul 
had accepted the patronage of the Transpadane Gauls 
and had founded a colony at Novum Comum, the modern 
Como. The Transpadanes had already acquired from 
Pompeius Strabo the " rights of Latium," which at this 
time conferred almost the consideration, as well as many 
of the privileges, of the Roman franchise. Marcellus, 
in order to irritate Caesar, had caused a citizen of this 
Latin colony to be seized on some pretence, and beaten 
with rods. The man was not a Roman, indeed, nor had 
he served, it would seem, a magistracy in his own town, 
by which he would have acquired the immunities of a 
Roman. Marcellus may not have violated the actual 
letter of the law, which exempted a Roman citizen from 
the degradation of the scourge; nevertheless, the 
Romans themselves acknowledged that it 
u.c. 703. ^yg^g an Indignity to scourge even a Latin, 

B.C. 51. & J O ' 

and both Caesar and his friends in the city 
regarded the act as a deliberate affront to the popular 
chieftain. 

Cicsar, with studied moderation, refrained from re- 
Cicero pro- senting this high-handed proceeding. He 
consul of knew that the insolence of the nobles was 

Cilicia. 

u.c. 703. confirming him in the favor of the populace. 

' ' ^ ' Nor, indeed, did Pompeius give it his 



B.C. 51. Cce.sar' s enemies urge his recall. in 

august countenance. Possibly he, too, was content to let 
the citizens mark the difference between a sage and expe- 
rienced champion such as himself, and the vulgar vio- 
lence of the headstrong faction to which he had given 
their turn of office. He absented himself from Ronie 
during the remainder of the year, and visited his villas, 
pretending to be employed in provisioning the city. 
While his rival was completing, in his eighth campaign, 
the long war which formed his army and created his 
resources, he withdrew with his intimates from the more 
eminent men of his party, dallied with the pursuits of 
literature and philosophy, and sought perhaps to recruit 
his failing health. Meanwhile the nobles, as if bent on 
their own ruin, strove to remove the man from whose 
moderation they might still have learnt a salutary lesson. 
They had persuaded Cicero to quit, not without reluc- 
tance, the centre of affairs, and assume the government 
of Cilicia from the month of August in this year. Dis- 
carded as he had lung been from the councils of the op- 
timates, and treated with ill-disguised contempt by the 
brawlers who swayed 'them, he still clung to the hope 
that all classes would at last combine to invoke him to 
save the state a second time. But the spirit of the sena- 
torial faction was such that he would have been allowed 
to do them no service had he remained within their call, 
while his short career as proconsul in Cilicia had ob- 
tained for him well-merited honor. In the conduct of 
his civil administration in that province he left a brilliant 
example of honor and integrity ; and even in the com- 
mand of a military force against the marauders in the 
mountains, he demeaned himself, thou'^h untrained in 
arms, as became a Roman imperator. His opportunities, 
however, were slight, and his successes were necessarily 
trifling. The innate vanity of his character is again 



112 The Rot?ian Triumvirates. ch. vi. 

curiously evinced by the dream in which he indulged, 
that he had merited the glories of a legitimate triumph, 
which on his return he solicited with unworthy im- 
portunity. 

The consul M. Marcellus had urged Caesar's pe- 
remptory recall. Pompeius, who had himself obtained 
„ leave for him to sue for the consulship with- 

Caesar secures ^ 

support by out quitting his government, gave way so 
far as to allow the senate to decree at the 
end of September in this year that a successor to his 
province should be definitely appointed six months from 
that time, that is, in the March following. No policy 
could be more feeble than this. It irritated Citsar ; at 
the same time it gave him an interval to provide for his 
own defence. Two of the tribunes sprang forward to 
put their veto upon the decree. The consul Sulpicius 
himself exclaimed against it. It seems that even at this 
moment of embittered feeling many of the more respect- 
able members of the senate demurred to an act so vio- 
lent and indecent. Pompeius, who had just quitted the 
city under pretence of hastening to repair to his pro- 
vince, watched every turn in the game, and now affected 
to disapprove of so extreme a measure. He allowed C. 
Marcellus, the cousin of Marcus, to be elected consul 
for the ensuing year, thus securing one strong partisan 
to the senate ; but he neutralized this act of vigor to 
some extent by getting Paulus .^tmilius appointed his 
colleague, who was well icnown to have sold himself to 
Ca:sar for a large sum of money with which to erect his 
splendid basilica in the forum. Among the new tribunes 
was another friend of Cassar, who was also reputed to 
have been bought with Gallic gold. C Scribonius Curio 
was the son of a senator of high rank and authority, a 
firm but temperate supporter of his party. The son had 



B.C. 50. Confidence of Pompeius. 113 

early disgraced himself by his licentiousness, he had 
found himself companions among the most dissolute 
young men of his class ; he was needy and unprinci- 
pled. Yet he was a youth not only of excellent parts 
but also of amiable character. He was a favorite with 
Cicero, who, despairing of his own contemporaries, now 
often looked with pleasing enthusiasm to the rising gen- 
eration for objects of hope and faith. But he was not 
proof against Caesar's seductions, and now, having at- 
tained an important office, he was prepared to defend 
his cause with desperate resolution. 

Caesar's enemies were no doubt well aware of the 
sums he had lavished in the purchase of adherents. Far 
more lavish was the expenditure which he ^, 

. ^ . Th'i penate 

incurred in the organization ot his province strengthen 
and his armies. Disappointed in their hope resources.^^'^"*^ 
that he might be crushed by the Gauls, they 
now flattered themselves that his resources were ex- 
hausted, that they could outbid him in the favor of the 
provincials and even of his own soldiers. When Atti- 
cus the Epicurean, who looked more to money than to 
politics, called on him for the liquidation of a private 
debt of fifty talents, they imagined that he would be 
seriously embarrassed. He repaid this trifling blow by 
ordering the construction of a sumptuous villa at Aricia. 
Above all, they placed their reliance on the force of 
seven legions which were under the command of Pom- 
peius, and which, though quartered in Spain, might be 
promply transported across the sea, even if the route of 
Gaul should be closed against them. At this moment 
the commander in Syria was calling for reinforcements 
against the Parthians. The senate decreed that two ad- 
ditional legions should be sent to him. The resources 
of the republic lay in the rival camps of Pompeius and 



114 The Roman Triumvu'aies. ch. vi. 

Caesar. The senate demanded a legion from each, 
Pompeius, as has been before mentioned, had previously- 
lent a legion to Caesar; this he now required to be re- 
turned to him for his own contingent, while the senate 
insisted on his furnishing another for his own. . Two 
divisions were thus removed from Gaul, and when they 
arrived in Italy the senate unscrupulously retained them 
near the frontier to strengthen their own position. But 
Caesar had plied them with generous gifts, and in the 
end they imparted weakness rather than strength to his 
enemies. Meanwhile these untoward consequences 
were little foreseen by Pompeius or the faction which 
clamored around him. When they discussed among 
themselves their chances of success, and some one in- 
quired of their champion what he would do should their 
enemy persist in suing for the consulship, and refuse at 
the same time to relinquish his command -"What, " he 
replied, "if my own son should raise his stick against 
me !" 

The first two jnonths of the year 50 B.C. were occupied 
with the reception of foreign embassies and the regula- 
tion of external affairs. On the ist of March the question 
arose, which had been suspended since the 
Sc'^'iiiotion^ previous September, and on which the 
forCasars existence of the commonwealth itself de- 

recall. 

u.c. 704. pended. Caesar's powers were destined to 

expire on the last day of December, B.C. 49; 
but the nobles were too impatient to wait still nearly two 
years for this much-looked-for consummation. Delay, 
which at a previous time might have involved him in 
further risks, could now, since the final pacification of 
his province, serve only to strengthen his position. The 
recent motion for his recall had been thus far evaded. 
C. Marccllus now came forward to ajiitatc it afresh. But 



B.C. 50. Sickness of Pompeius. 115 

Paulus temporized, Curio threatened ; Pompeius, it would 
seem, had been taken with a cold fit of timidity, or, at 
least, of procrastination. Common decency required, 
perhaps, that an interval of some months should be ac- 
corded, and Marcellus was constrained to extend the 
respite till the November next ensuing. With this pro- 
viso a majority of the senate Vv^ould have voted for 
Caesar's recall, notwithstanding the silence of the other 
consul. But Curio now rose in his place, and in a speech 
conciliatory indeed, and flattering towards Marcellus 
himself, insinuated that if such a course were adopted 
towards Caesar, the same measure must in fairness be 
applied to Pompeius also. If this second resolution were 
rejected, he vowed to put his veto on the first. Marcel- 
lus now lost all command of his temper. He denounced 
Ca^.sar as a brigand, and urged the senate to declare him 
a public enemy unless he should lay down his arms. 
But Curio had taken counsel with his friends, and was 
well assured that his specious proposal would be strongly 
supported. He insisted that the question should be put 
to the vote, and when the senators were counted off on 
the opposite sides of the hall, the motion for the simul- 
taneous disarming of both the rivals was carried by an 
overwhelming majority. Curio was content with this 
result, which he knew he could turn to the interest of his 
patron. The people received him in the forum with re-, 
doubled acclamations, and strewed his path with flowers, 
in acknowledgment of the substantial victories he had 
gained. It was certain that Pompeius would not sur- 
render his legions, and Caesar would become justly en- 
titled to retain his own command. Marcellus fumed 
with anger and mortification, and w^as prepared to plunge 
still deeper into the course of violence and illegality. 
He protested that he would not listen to the harangues 

I 



ii6 TJie Roman Triu7nvir at es. en. vi. 

of demagogues while ten armed legions were appearing 
across the Alps. He; too, would summon an armed 
champion to defend the commonwealth. 

But Pompeius meanwhile remained sluggish and in- 
active, and held aloof from these high-handed proceed- 
ings. He absented himself from the city, travelled 
from villa to villa, went to meet Cicero at Tarentum on 
his return from Cilicia ; and the two veteran statesmen 
entertained one another with discourse on the position 
of affairs, which established some mutual 

Fompeius 

falls sick at Confidence between them. Pompeius was 
u.c.^704. suffering in bodily health, which no doubt 

B.c 50. prostrated his energies at this critical mo- 

ment. His friends and allies were equally wondering at 
the eclipse which he had allowed to creep over him. 
But it was soon widely bruited that the great man had 
fallen sick of a fever at Neapolis, and was lying at the 
point of death. The report of his danger roused the 
sympathy of the Italians, which spread from city to city. 
The temples were crowded with devotees, sacrifices were 
offered, and vows recorded for his recovery. It was a 
singular instance of the vehemence of popular en- 
thusiasm. When his health was unexpectedly restored, 
the people rushed tumultuously to congratulate their 
ancient favorite, and showered their blessings upon him 
as he was slowly transported in his litter to Rome. Me- 
morable, indeed, was the example thus presented of the 
short-sightedness of mortals and the vanity of human 
wishes. The gods exclaimed the Roman moralists, 
offered, in their divine prescience, to remove the great 
Pompeius, at the summit of his fortunes, beyond the 
sphere of human contingencies ; but the cities and the 
nations interposed with prayer, and prcser\'cd their be- 
loved hero for defeat and decapitation. Pompeius him- 



B.C. 50. CcBsar' s Demands. 117 

self was no less blind than his admirers. Estimating 
the depth of his influence by the loudness of these flatter- 
ing acclamations, he no longer mistrusted the extent of 
his resources, nor doubted the terror of his name. There 
was no one at his ear to whisper to him how hollow these 
demonstrations were ; to foretell that his garrisons would 
lay down their arms and Italy surrender without a blow, 
while the voices now most eager in their devotion to him 
would welcome the conqueror of Gaul with no less fervent 
enthusiasm. " But what," murmured Cicero, when the 
delusion was over, and his chief was shifting the basis of 
his power to a foreign shore, " what are the prospects of 
a party whose champion falls dangerously sick at least 
once a year ? " 

The Gallic legions, indeed, were still retained in their 
cantonments beyond the mountains ; but the proconsul 
himself was drawing nearer to Rome, and 
the progress he now made through the cities a ^^^'^d 
of the Cisalpine, but strictly within the 
limits of his province, was a continued triumph and de- 
fiance. Under pretence of courting the suffrages of the 
citizens in that district for his qusestor Antonius, who was 
suing for the augurate, he passed the summer on the 
confines of his government. The people came to greet 
him on every side, or celebrated his arrival in their towns 
with feasts and sacrifices. From the Cisalpine he 
hastened back in the autumn to the country of the 
Treviri, where he had summoned his forces to a general 
review ; and there he doubtless communicated to his 
officers his resolve to extort from the senate full satisfac- 
tion of all their demands — the consulship for himself, 
the honor of the triumph, and confirmation of the acts of 
his long proconsulship, with lands and money for his 
soldiers. "They cabal," he said, " to wrest from me my 



ii8 The Roman Triu?Hvirates. ch. \^, 

rights ; but " —laying his hand on his sword — " this shall 
maintain them." At this moment Cicero had just re- 
turned from Cilicia, and sued for a triumph. Trifling as 
his successes had been, the greatest of all miUtary honors 
had sometimes no doubt been granted for less. It was 
not a time for mortifying even the vanity of a good citizen. 
Bat Cato opposed himself to the demand with his surly 
impracticability, and the senate weakly or spitefully 
sanctioned the refusal, Pompeius, to whom Cicero had 
applied for his support, had amused his petitioner with 
hollow compliments, while Caesar on his part expressed 
his warm approbation, together with the offer of his ser- 
vices, thus easily detaching him from the counsels of his 
ungenerous party, and disposing him to remain a mute 
spectator of the rapid advance of the crisis before him. 
The senate, meanwhile, made no actual preparation 
for the approaching contest. If Marcelius applied to 
Pompeius, and urged him to concentrate 
Vacillation of [\^^ legions which he had under his com- 

the senate. , . , ,tt i • n ji 

mand in the West, he was satished, or at 
least silenced, with the great captain's vainglorious 
reply : " I have only to stamp with my foot, to raise up 
legions from the soil of Italy." Pompeius depended on 
the veterans to whom he had himself given lands, and 
to the sons, perhaps, of the veterans of Sulla. Neither 
he nor his adherents knew how slight was the tie which 
bound these graceless clients to him. The senators 
were reassured, however, by his boastful confidence, 
and, voting again at the bidding of their favorite consul, 
decided by a great majority, in the teeth of their recent 
vote, that Caesar should be at once recalled and his rival 
be allowed at the same time to retain his powers. The 
injustice of this decision was palpable; nor less so that 
Caesar, by yielding to it, would have rushed on his own 



B.C. 50- Vacillation of the Senate. 119 

destruction. It was impossible for him to come to the 
city, and sue for the consulship as a candidate in the 
toga. His life would not have been safe for a moment. 
Nor was it more safe for him even to descend into 
private life, and surrender his claim to the office which 
was necessary for his personal security. Once more 
Curio exclaimed against the action of the nobles, and 
the populace, perceiving the situation at a glance, hailed 
his efforts with tumultuous applause. The senate was 
alarmed, and swayed back again with the natural levity 
of the southern temperament. On a second division the 
consul was outvoted by a majority as great as that which 
had but just now supported him. Marcellus was baffled. 
He dismissed the senate, exclaiming, in his irritation : 
"You have carried the day, but you shall have Caesar 
for your master." 

A few days later, at the commencement of December, 
the city was alarmed by a report that Caesar's legions 
were crossing the Alps. The consuls hastily called the 
senate together, and proposed to summon „ . 

° IT r Lurio urges 

some cohorts stationed at Capua to the de- Caesar to deci- 
fence of the city. Curio derided their fears, 
asserting that the rumor was untrue. It was at least 
premature. But Marcellus retorted that, prevented as 
he was from concerting with the supreme council for the 
safety of the state, he would venture to save it by mea- 
sures of his own. He marched solemnly through the 
city, attended by the chiefs of his party, and sought 
Pompeius in his residence at Alba. There he thrust a 
sword into the imperator's hand, and invited him to as- 
sume the command of all the forces of the common- 
wealth then in Italy. Pompeius accepted the charge, 
adding, with the pretended moderation which never for- 
sook him, " If no better expedient can be discovered." 



120 The Roman Triumvirates. ch. vi. 

He declined however to make further levies ; he re- 
fused to recall the legions in the East or the West to the 
centre of the empire. He was either singularly careless 
or he still looked to an overt attack on the part of Caesar 
to justify his assumption of extraordinary powers. The 
Gallic proconsul had now again quitted the Transal- 
pine province and stationed himself at Ravenna. He 
was attended there by a single legion only, but other 
battalions were no doubt moving quietly southwards to 
its support. Yet it was hard to believe that he meditated 
any sudden outbreak, and possibly Marcellus was him- 
self deceived by the vigor of his own stroke. Curio, 
however, who was more in his patron's secrets, pre- 
tended that the inviolability of his own person was no 
longer secure. Protesting against the consul's call to 
arms, and proclaiming that the reign of law was at an 
end, he suddenly quitted the city still early in Decem- 
ber, and betook himself to the proconsul's quarters. 
The people regarded both the one and the other as vic- 
tims of oligarchical injustice. The political atmosphere 
was fully charged with electricity. Curio was urgent for 
action. Caesar still kept his head, waiting and watching 
for the fit moment with the arrival of the new year. O. 
Cassius and M. Antonius, two of his most devoted of- 
ficers, would succeed to the office of tribune ; another 
Caius Marcellus, not less violent than the first, and 
Lentulus Crus, an uncompromising optimate, would be- 
come consuls ; a final collision would inevitably follow. 
He determined that the act of his own hand which 
should furnish direct occasion for it should be specious 
and popular. He commanded Curio to return and lay 
before the senate and people his offer to surrender at 
once the Transalpine province, together with the troops 
which held it, now ten months before the legal expira- 



B.C. 49. The reign of law at an end. 121 

tion of his office, retaining only the Cisalpine and Illyri- 
cum with the moderate force of two legions. Should 
these concessions be rejected, he would still be content 
to lay down his command without reserve, provided that 
Pompeius, on his part, should do the like. Failing the 
acceptance of this last condition, he boldly declared that 
he would come in arms to Rome, and avenge his own 
and what he affirmed to be his country's injuries. 

The letter containing these proposals was presented 
to the senate and the new consuls on the first day of the 
new year (b.c. 49). The bearer was refused even a hear- 
ing ; but Cassius and Antonius took care that the people 
should be informed of them, and insisted that Caesar's 
claims should be considered. A noisy and confused 
debate ensued. The consuls declared " the state in 
danger," and refused all concession to a 
" rebel with arms in his hands; " the senate bunes flee to 
ultimately adopted the motion of Scipio, canip.^^ 
that unless Caesar yielded both army and u.c. 705. 
province before a certain day, he should be 
treated as a public enemy. The tribunes interposed 
their vetos, exclaiming that the people had granted and 
prolonged his office, the people alone could legally with- 
draw it. But no heed was paid to the voice of law or the 
forms of the constitution. The decree was carried by a 
large majority ; the tribunes formally protesting, and de- 
claring that they were coerced in the exercise of their 
legitimate functions. Their opponents retorted by a 
solemn proclamation of the danger of the state, and by 
inviting the citizens to put on mourning. Pompeius 
from his station outside the walls sent some cohorts into 
the city. The consuls were emboldened to act with a 
high hand. They convened the senate on the 6th of 
January to determine on the punishment of the refractory 



122 Hie Roman Triumvirates. ch. vi. 

tribunes. When it was intimated to these officials that 
they would be formally expelled from the assembly, 
they pretended to disguise themselves and fled along 
with Curio, as if for their lives. In thus leaving the city 
they signified that they threw up tlieir outraged and de- 
fenceless office ; for the tribune was forbidden to step 
outside the walls during his term of service. They were 
eagerly received in the proconsul's quarters. Caesar could 
now take up their cause as his own, and the use of force 
would be doubly justified in the eyes of the people, ever 
sensitive of the privileges of their traditional protectors. 
Caesar had suffered a technical wrong, and so had the 
tribunes also. Neither of them had perhaps any consti- 
tutional means of redress. Such illegal acts as those of 
the consuls and senate betrayed a signal defect in the 
Roman polity for which no legitimate remedy had been 
appointed, for which none, perhaps, was ultimately pos- 
sible. Aggrieved as they doubtless were, 
appeals to were they morally justified in making an 

^'^™^* appeal to force ? Such is the question 

which their countrymen asked themselves, both then and 
afterwards ; but they could find no satisfactory answer. 
Such, again, is the question which the moderns have re- 
peatedly asked, and again with no result. The problem 
is one which has had a deep interest for succeeding 
generations ; for the consequences of Caesar's bold re- 
solve to vindicate his claims by arms have had a wide 
effect upon human history which has not even yet ceased 
to operate. Sulla and Marius and many other public 
men at Rome had acted with equal or greater violence, 
and no one has cared to inquire how far their circum- 
stances excused or justified them ; but all the world has 
taken a common interest in criticising the action of the 
immortal Caesar. 



B.C. 49- Was CcRsar justified? 123 

A full century later, when passions, it may be sup- 
posed, had cooled, and the conditions of the problem 
admitted of calmer consideration, the poet Lu^an's 
Lucan gives us the final judgment of his estimate of 

. the causes 

own contemporaries. Lucan was a poet, of the civil 
but he had sat at the feet of statesmen and ^^'^' 
philosophers; he was an ardent enthusiast for liberty, 
but his notions of liberty were those of a Roman oligarch 
and the heir of senatorial prejudices. The first sentence 
of his poem paradoxically characterizes the civil war as 
a justifiable outrage — " Jus datum sceleri ; '* and waiving 
all subtle technical criticism on the merits of the case, 
he refers it to a moral necessity, such as places it alto- 
gether beyond the scope of human judgment. The doc- 
trine of the Stoics, which he had imbibed from his uncle 
Seneca, assured him that all mundane things are subject 
to a natural law of production and decay ; and that as 
the frame of the universe itself is doomed to return to 
Chaos, so the noblest creations of human genius must 
run their destined course, and finally crumble to their 
foundations. " In se magna ruunt : " Great things fall 
by their own bulk and greatness. The commonwealth 
of Rome had reached the summit of its triumphs, and 
straightway Fate stepped in and claimed her victim. 
Nevertheless, within the controllmg action 

r t ■ -11 1 • 1 11 Division of 

of this primal law there is room, he allows, sovereignty 
for secondary causes. The immediate im- a^e??uk?s. 
pulse to revolution was given, he says, by 
the division of political power between the three con- 
spiring chiefs, and the exclusion of the people from the 
direction of their own affairs. This tyranny, disguised 
by its partition among three equals, must eventually 
centre in one alone ; for such colleagues cannot fail to 
become rivals, and such rivals must at last rush in arms 



124 The Roman Triumvirates. ch. vi. 

against each other. So had even the rising walls of 
Rome been moistened with a brother's blood. Crassus 
indeed, while he yet lived, had stood, like a slender isth- 
mus, between encroaching oceans ; on his death no bar- 
rier remained to part the contending claims of Caesar 
and Pompeius. Julia carried to her early grave the last 
bond of union between two alien houses ; she who 
like the Sabine women of ancient legend, might have 
flung herself between the husband and the father, and 
dashed away their swords and joined their hands to- 
gether. Thenceforth there was only jea- 
Po^mpems lousy on the one side and ambition on the 

and Caesar. other ; Pompeius could not brook an equal 
nor Caesar a superior. Betwixt them who should decide 
the right ? The gods pronounced in favor of the victor, 
but Cato had concurred with the vanquished. But the 
contending champions came into the field on no equal 
terms. The one was old in years and content with the 
applause of the forum and the theatre; the other ardent 
and active, flushed with recent victories, and eager for 
power ; the one had long adopted the garb of peace ; 
the other had not yet sheathed the sword which had 
subdued the Gauls. Pompeius stood like the vete- 
ran oak, conspicuous and alone in some fertile field, 
crowned with the trophies of many triumphs, majestic 
in its decay, and revered for its ancient associations. 
Caesar fell upon it like the lightning of Jupiter, which 
spares nothing venerable, nothing holy, neither the 
monarch of the forest nor the temples of its own di- 
vinity. 

Such, he continues, were the causes of enmity between 
the illustrious rivals ; but the seeds of discord lay far 
deeper, and pervaded the commonwealth itself with the 
fatal germs of dissolution. Luxury, and the wealth of cities 



B.C. 49. Causes of the Civil Wars. 125 

and empires amassed in a few hands, had 

r 1 1 1 • • r T-. • Luxury and 

transformed the equal citizens 01 Rome in- vices of the 
to a group of rival tyrants who cajoled or ^™''^* 
trampled upon a herd of paupers. The thirst of gold and 
the ruthless means by which it had been gratified, had 
blunted all sense of public or private honor. No em- 
inence satisfied the ambitious aspirant but one which 
towered above the laws ; no power contented him but 
such as defied the commonwealth itself. The decrees of 
the senate, the resolutions of the people, were alike 
coerced or disregarded. Consuls and tribunes vied with 
one another in violating the restrictions imposed on them 
by the laws. Every honor was bought with money or 
extorted by force ; the citizens set their own price on 
their favor, while the recurring elections of the Field of 
Mars brought the republic year by year to the verge of 
anarchy and dissolution. The men most powerful in 
the camp, most influential in the comitia, were plunged 
in the deepest embarrassments, from which war alone 
could extricate them ; the usurers, the last element of 
national stability, trembled for their preposterous ven- 
tures, while spendthrifts and bankrupts invoked with all 
their vows the chances of universal confusion. 

Such is the view which Lucan took — such are nearly 
the words in which he explained it — of the causes of the 
great civil war. His compliment to the des- 

. . -. T Monarchy 

potism of Nero, as the sole means of restor- acoasum- 
ing order, may be suspected of hypocrisy plainly in- 
and adulation. Nevertheless, the fact is evitable. 
indisputable, that everything had been long tending to 
monarchy, and that for the last eighty years the decay of 
ancient ideas, the obliteration of republican manners, 
and the disorganization of government, had combined to 
render such a consummation inevitable. The tribunate 



126 The Roman TriumvircJes . CH. vi. 

of the younger Gracchus, the consulships of Marius and 
Cinna, the dictatorship of Sulla, the wide and protracted 
commands of Pompeius and Caesar, had been in fact no 
other than temporary autocracies. The nobles were 
content that the state should be ruled by a series of ex- 
traordinary commissions of their own appointment; the 
people would have willingly merged all their rights of 
self-government in the paramount authority of a sove- 
reign pledged to subject the nobles to them. The 
readers and thinkers of the day, a small but increasing 
class, withdrew more and more from the turbid sphere 
of political action. Atticus, who piqued himself on his 
practical shrewdness, professed neutrality on all ques- 
tions of state, and lived in amity with three generations 
of public men of every faction. Cato and his nephew 
Brutus, who strove to mould their public conduct by the 
•precepts of the highest philosophy, only proved that 
virtue and honor could no longer live untainted in the 
atmosphere of the Roman free-state. The republic to 
which Cicero devoted his faith and love was the republic 
of antiquity, the republic of his own imagination, the 
republic of the good and wise ; nor are indications 
wanting that even he admitted that liberty is never more 
amiable than when she yields to the mild authority of a 
constitutional sovereign. But few men were cautious 
and temperate as he was ; the bold and freespoken 
openly proclaimed, with Curio, that " the republic was a 
vain chimera ;" or called it, with Caesar himself, " a mere 
name devoid of substance or reality." 

The fact of such a movement of men's spirits in the 
direction of royalty is one of the great lessons we learn 
from the history of the Roman commonwealth ; the 
history of a vigorous nation governed by a close aristo- 
cracy of birth, which asserted for itself fhe full power and 



B.C. 49 Monarchy becomes popular. 127 

privileges of government, and slowly and with reluctance 
conceded a share in them to the popular class below it. 
The people were driven, by want and jeal- 

^ ^ ' -^ _ -^ Sentiments 

ousy, to support the ambition of any one conveyed in 
among the ruling class who would take letters to 
them and their interests under his protection. Caesar. 
Their minds became gradually prepared for the abandon- 
ment of their personal freedom ; all the specious argu- 
ments in favor of monarchy obtained more atid more a 
hearing with them, and writers or speakers soon arose 
who could place them in a light sufficiently effective. 
Such a writer is one whose " Letters addressed to Caesar" 
go under the name of Sallust the historian. This tract 
does not indeed deserve to be considered genuine ; 
but it seems to belong at least to the period before us, 
and to speak the common sentiments of the public men 
of the day who despaired of the free-state. In these let- 
ters Caesar is invited to assume the government, as the 
only man who can heal the public disorders. " Save 
Rome," exclaims the orator, " for, if Rome perishes, the 
world will perish with her in blood and ruin. Vast is the 
task imposed upon you. The genuine free people is 
annihilated ; there remains only a corrupt populace 
without unity of sentiment or action. Infuse a new ele- 
ment into the mass •. introduce numbers of foreign 
citizens ; found colonies and restore cities ; crush the 
faction of tyrants at home, and extend far the roots of 
the Roman community abroad. Exact military service 
of all alike (not of Romans or Latins only), but limit the 
term of it. Let the magistrates be chosen for their virtues, 
not merely for their riches. To entrust to the citizens 
themselves the working of this reformed polity would be 
useless. But the impartial eye of a sovereign ruler may 
watch securely over it, and neither fear, nor favor, nor 



128 The Roman Triumvir aies. ch. vi. 

interest must be sufifered to impede its operation." This 
exposition of the views of intelHgent pubhc men was 
supported by the mass of the middle classes ; it was 
sanctioned by many from disgust at the corruption of the 
optimates. Nevertheless, the ruling powers would 
doubtless struggle for their ascendency. The revolution 
in view must be a work of force and of manifold perils. 
The atrocities of Sulla had not been forgotten. Again 
and again the nobles would surely resort to violence and 
bloodshed. Even at this moment it was reported that 
the government had prepared a list of forty senators, 
and multitudes of lesser quality, for proscription. But 
Caesar had already gained a name for personal clemency, 
and his success was anticipated as a pledge of public 
and private security. 

The sentiment in favor of Caesar's aggression re- 
ceived, no doubt, further impulse from the partiality of 
r^-o.-c ,>..» the provincials. To the foreign subjects of 
tensions re- the rcpublic monarchy was, for the most 

garded with * . 

favor by pro- part, more familiar than the forms of a com- 
jects, and ' monwealth ; and to the multitudes of Greeks 
foreigners. ^^^ Asiatics who througcd the streets of 
Rome the populace lent an attentive ear when they 
dilated on the pomp and splendour of Oriental royalty. 
But Cassar himself was personally beloved by the very 
people whom he had conquered, as well as by multi- 
tudes who had never seen him. The nephew of Marius 
had carried the traditions of his party further than any 
of his predecessors. The incorporation of the Italians 
was not enough for him. He had advanced the Cispa- 
dane Gauls to the franchise also; he was evidently pre- 
pared to carry the same policy onward. The Gauls be- 
yond the Po, and even beyond the Alps, might expect 
similar favor at his hands. He had secured the inde- 



B.C. 49* Popula7-ity of Ccesar. 129 

• 
pendence of certain communities in Greece. He had 

attached to himself some of the potentates of Asia. The 
whole nation of the Jews, very popular at this period in 
Rome, loved him as much as they hated his opponent. 
Caesar had lavished vast sums in the decoration of pro- 
vincial cities, both in the East and West. Foreign na- 
tions might well imagine that the conqueror and or- 
ganizer of Gaul was preparing to mould the whole 
Roman woild into a mighty monarchy under equal laws. 
To be a second Alexander had been the dream of many 
kings and conquerors. The hour and the man might 
seem to have at last arrived for its realization. 

'* Would that I had seen,'' exclaims the French his- 
torian Michelet, " that man of pale and sallow counte- 
nance, faded before its time by the dissipa- 
tions of the city, the delicate and epileptic Csesar on his 

•^ ' . . return to Italy. 

Caesar, marching at the head of his legions 
beneath the rainy skies of Gaul, swimming across our 
Gaulish rivers, or riding on horseback between the litters 
which bore his exhausted secretaries, dictating four or 
six letters at a time (seven, says Pliny, when he had no 
other business in hand), agitating Rome from the depths 
of Belgium, exterminating on his way two millions of 
enemies, subduing in ten years the Continent to the 
Rhine and the Northern Ocean." Such was the Caesar 
who had quitted the city for his province ; such had been 
his career during his long but voluntary exile ; and now 
at last he was returning ; his conquests completed, hi<s 
dangers overcome, his bodily vigor strengthened, no 
doubt, by the toils he had endured ; his mental powers 
strained to the utmost, his fame established, his cha- 
racter purged in the eyes of his countrymen by merits 
and sufferings, all Rome prepared to bow before the 
genius which was now shining forth and eclipsing the 



130 The Roman Triumvirates. ch. vii, 

• 
long-faded glories of every other candidate for their wor- 
ship. Caesar exerted a moral and intellectual force 
which kindled to flame the imagination of his country- 
men. Great as he was, transcendently great among the 
leaders of the people, great as a speaker, great as a 
writer, great as a statesman, greatest of all as a military 
chieftain, the excitable temperament of the Romans was 
already prone to adore him as greater than he was or ever 
could be. 



CHAPTER VII. 



THE CIVIL WAR — BATTLE OF PHARSALIA — DEATH OF 
POMPEIUS — DEATH OF CATO. 

The tribunes had quitted the city on the night of Janu- 
ary 6 (=Nov. 13, B.C. 50, before the revision of the cal- 
endar). The consuls thereupon convoked 
o/pmrTpdus the senate in the temple of Bellona, which 
suis '^^ ^°" ^'^y outside the walls, in order to enable Pom- 
peius to attend their meeting and virtually 
to control it. Their favored leader had attained the ob- 
ject of his ambition-; the republic had thrown itself at 
his feet. New levies were commanded throughout Italy. 
Favonius petulantly urged him to " stamp with his foot," 
and evoke armed legions from the soil. But the wary 
veteran determined to leave in Spain the large forces 
which he had collected in his province, to act as a check 
upon Caesar in his rear. Both he and the chiefs of his 
party still clung to the idea that their foe would be be- 
trayed by disaffection in his own ranks. They were 
aware, perhaps, that his lieutenant Labienus was about 
to desert him, and they honed that many others would 



B.C. 50. Pompeius takes up arms. 131 

follow his example. They were still convinced that the 
clouds of danger would disperse, and assigned magis- 
tracies and provinces among themselves and their ad- 
herents with reckless disregard even of the due forms 
of law. But Pompeius continued to make preparations 
for a lengthened conflict. Arms and money were col- 
lected by forced contributions ; Italy was placed under 
military perquisition ; her temples were rifled of their 
treasures. The report of these tumultuary proceedings 
reached Caesar at Ravenna, where his plans were already 
matured. He harangued the soldiers of 
the single legion which he had there with ^^^^^ crosses 

o *=> the Rubicon. 

him, explained his wrongs to the full satis- 
faction of their blunt understandings, and called upon 
them to draw their swords and hasten to redress them. 
On the morning of the 15th he sent forward some co- 
horts to the Rubicon, the frontier stream of 
his province Throughout the day he pre- 7 5 = Nov. 27, 
sented himself at a public spectacle, invited " ^' ^°' 
company to his table, and entertained them with his 
usual affability. At sunset he made an excuse for a 
brief absence, and hastened with a few attendants to 
overtake his soldiers. The Romans signalized the fa- 
mous passage of the Rubicon with various reputed mar- 
vels ; but the act which decided the fate of Rome for so 
many centuries was quickly and quietly accomplished. 
On the morrow the proconsul of Gaul appeared in 
arms before Ariminum, as an invader of Italy. The 
Gauls were marching upon Rome ; the frontier garrison 
opened its gates in terror. It was here that the tribunes 
met him in their flight from Rome ; but what should 
have detained them ten days on their journey does not 
clearly appear. From these quarters Caesar issued his 
orders for the movement of his troops ; one legion 

K 



132 The Roman Trmmvirafes. ch. vii. 

reached him within a fortnight, another in the course of 
the next month. For the moment, however, his whole 
force was hardly six thousand strong, while his oppo- 
nents had at least three times that number actually in 
hand. But Pompeius, it seemed, was struck with con- 
sternation, together with all his party, at these rapid 
movements. They were, after all, taken by surprise and 
utterly unmanned. The proscriptions of Marius, the 
slaughter of the Allia, the burning of the city by the 
Gauls, such were the horrors that seized on their ima- 
ginations, and unnerved them for the encounter. 

Pompeius betook himself to the Appian Way, and 
magistrates and nobles streamed through the gates and 
^ pressed after him to the southward. His 

Pompeius 

retires from forccs, he declared, were unequal to the 
contest ; let all good citizens follow him to 
a place of security. At Capua he halted, and there it 
was found that the consuls had carried away the keys of 
the temple of Saturn, but had left the treasure of the 
state behind them. Pompeius bade them fly back and 
fetch it ; but they hesitated and asked for an escort. He 
could not spare a man. The gladiators in keeping at 
Capua required a large force to watch them. It was not 
till these dangerous swordsmen were broken up into 
small parties and lodged in security that the two legions 
which kept guard over them could be utilized for more 
active service. 

Meanwhile there was some pretence at negotiation ; 

but Pompeius, encouraged by the defection of Labienus, 

insisted that Caesar should lay down his 

The cities of \ ■\ f^ 1 .^ -i j 

central Italy arms, while LiEsar no less peremptorily de- 
eurrcndcr to maudcd that if one surrendered his com- 

Csusar. 

mand the other should do so likewise. But 
CiEsar advanced ; Arretium, Iguviuin, and Auxiiiuiin 



B.C. 50. Ccesar advances into Italy. 133 

promptly received him. The road to Rome lay open to 
him ; but when he heard that his adversaries were cross- 
ing from Capua to the Upper Coast, he turned to the left 
and threw himself on the strong central position of 
Corfinium, where Pompeius had left a detachment to 
hold him in check. Domitius Ahenobarbus, one of the 
boldest and most sanguine of the party, had insisted 
that this place at least should not be abandoned ; but to 
leave it unsupported was equivalent to abandoning it. 
Domitius preferred to stand a siege, but his soldiers de- 
livered up the place to the assailant as soon as he ap- 
peared before it. Domitius himself fell into the victor's 
hands ; but Csesar well knew the advantage of making 
a signal example of clemency, and not only spared the 
captive's life, but allowed him his freedom also. Politic 
as Caesar's forbearance was, it accorded, doubtless, with 
his natural temper. Barbarous as he had shown himself 
in contest with the enemies of the state, he was always 
sparing of the blood of the citizens. He could be not 
forbearing only, but generous. 

The beaten soldiers joined his standard with alacrity ; 
the people of the country flocked around him. They 
were dismayed by the proclamations of 
Pompeius, who threatened the severest makeThis 
measures against all who assisted or coun- escape from 

° Italy. 

lenanced his enemy. Cicero, who was 
deeply mortified at his chief's abandonment of the city, 
murmured with disgust at these impolitic menaces. Pom- 
peius charged him to relinquish Capua, where he had 
been entrusted with a command, and join him in Apulia. 
He was loth to withdraw further from the city ; and the 
road, it seems, was no longer open. From Luceria Pom- 
peius led the consuls and magistrates to the port ol 
Brundisium. There he had already secured a number 



1-71^ The Roman Triumvirates. ch. vii. 

of transports, and from thence he immediately- 
despatched several legions to Epirus. To remain him- 
self behind and embark with the last of his division, was 
Vhe only duty of a general that he consented to perform. 
Cassar, hastening from Corfinium, was already at the 
gates ; but he was destitute of vessels, and the sea was 
open to the transports, which were returning to bear 
away the remnant of the fugitives. He 
IT c 7 5^i made a vigorous attempt to throw a mole 
Jan. 25, across the mouth of the harbor ; but in this 

B.C. 49. . ■ 

operation he was baffled, and Pompems ef- 
fected his escape. 

The situation was now completely reversed. Pom- 
peius and Caesar had exchanged places. The govern- 
ment of Rome had emigrated to a foreign shore ; the 
assailant reigned supreme throughout Italy, 

Pompeius t , 1 1 1 i • ir • i ■ ' 

throws hiin- and had only to show himseli m the city to 
resourcesin be received with acclamations. The sen- 
the East. ators, at the bidding of their champion had 

thrown themselves upon the support of subject.s or 
strangers. While still possessed of large armies and 
abundant resources in the West, they had preferred to 
secure their position in the opposite quarter of the em- 
pire. They carried with them all the levies which they 
had made from Roman citizens, with several complete 
legions, and were accompanied by the great mass of 
the ruling classes, the knights and publicani, whose pe- 
cuniary interests were bound up with lands and cities in 
the Eastern provinces; and they demanded aid from all 
the dependent sovereigns who lined the frontiers of 
Greece and Asia Minor, the petty kings of Thrace, of 
Galatia, of Cappadocia, and others, who could furnish 
ample military supplies, as well as dense crowds of well- 
equipped though ill tramed warriors. They were pro- 



B.C. 49. Ponipeius refnoves to the East. 135 

tected, moreover, from any sudden attack by a numer- 
ous fleet, which, after transporting them across the Adri- 
atic, could guard the passage u.gainst the assailant, 
should he threaten to pursue them. Caesar himself was 
utterly unprovided with ships or maritime resources. The 
great naval powers of the Mediterranean, Rhodes, and 
Egypt, Avere attached by special bonds to the interests 
of Pompeius. He had not calculated on having to pur- 
sue the senate on the ocean. 

Nevertheless, the moral weight lay on the side of 
Caesar, and this soon appeared to be preponderant The 
flight of Pompeius was viewed with disgust 
and alarm by a large section of his own sup- repairs to 
porters. Cato took the same step only as a Rome, 
frightful necessity. Cicero shrank from it, and returned 
to Rome to abide the progress of events. Many senators 
and other men of consequence followed his example. 
Public men and magnates who possessed a stake in the 
country were terrified at the violent language of the fugi- 
tives, who threatened to return as conquerors and tyrants. 
Ponipeius was wont to exclaim : " Sulla could do this 
and that; why should not I?" Sulla had brought his 
legions from the East, and made himself dictator by 
massacre. His pupil and successor might do the like. 
Confiscation, plunder, and proscription were in the 
mouths of his most rabid followers, such as Bibulus, Fa- 
vonius, Labienus, and Lentulus. Nor was the state of 
things secure at Rome itself. The government was dis- 
solved ; the consuls and higher magistrates had fled from 
the forum ; the laws were in abeyance, and a reign of anar- 
chy seemed impending. The domestic warfare of the 
debtors and creditors, which had so often brought the 
republic to the verge of ruin, which had been arrested 
by the overthrow of Catilina, and with difficulty kept 



136 The Roman Triumvirates. ch. vii. 

under by the authority and the armed forces of Pompeius, 
was about to blaze out again. Every day of the inter- 
regnum was fraught with infinite peril. Caesar was not 
in a position to pursue Pompeius ; but had he been so, 
it would have been necessary for him to abandon the 
pursuit till he had secured the basis of his power at home. 
He had driven his enemies out of Italy in sixty days ; 
he now turned promptly back, crossed the Apennines, 
and presented himself, almost unattended, in the city. 
The people high and low received him joyfully, for he 
brought them the pledge of security at least for the 
day, and they had almost ceased, through their long 
period of anxiety and despair, to look forward to the 
morrow. 

Thus possessed of the centre of his enemies' position, 
the conqueror might determine more at leisure on which 
wing of their forces he should first throw himself. In 
the absence of the civil magistrates, he could only 
Cse=ar seizes imposc a military government on the city; 
the treji- but this was cheerfully accepted, A large 

sure in the . ._ , , . , ,. ,., , ^ 

temple of donative gratified his soldiers ; a liberal gra- 

aturn. tuity to every citizen delighted the populace. 

Butho carefully abstained from private spoliation for the 
discharge of these sums. He bethought himself of the 
treasure which the consuls had forgotten to carry away, 
and ordered the temple of Saturn to be thrown open to 
him. L. Metellus, one of the tribunes, was on the spot, 
and had the courage to interpose his inviolable person. 
Caesar pushed him scornfully aside ; he addressed the 
people, reminding them that the precious store was 
reserved as a sacred deposit for repelling a Gallic in- 
vasion. It was believed to comprise the actual ingots 
of gold which Rome had paid to Brennus as the ransom 
of the city, and which Camillus had wrested again from 



B.C. 49. CcBsar I'epairs to Rome. 137 

the barbarians at the point of the sword. " No fear 
henceforth," he cried, "of a Gallic invasion: I have 
subdued the Gauls." 

But the Pompeian party had yet another weapon in 
store which might make the position of their adversary 
untenable. The nearest granaries of the city, Sardinia, 
Sicily, and Africa, were all held at the moment by their 
own officers, while Egypt itself was very closely con- 
nected with their chief and his interests. Caesar's first 
care now was to establish his power in the ^ . . 

^ Curio IS 

neighboring islands. A legion which he slam in 

promptly despatched to Sardinia was re- 
ceived by the inhabitants with open arms, while the 
garrison of the senate was ignominiously expelled from 
it. Cato, who had charge of Sicily, was obliged to 
abandon his post as soon as Curio appeared in sight. 
Africa still remained to conquer ; but Curio, when he 
transported his forces to the continent, was encountered 
by the Pompeian lieutenant Varus, with the Numidian 
chieftain Juba at his side, and was routed and slain. 
This important province was thus left in the hands of 
the senate ; but the immediate needs of the city were 
now adequately supplied. 

Meanwhile Caesar, having left Rome in the keeping of 
^milius Lepidus — a noble of high position, whose de- 
scent and connections attached him to his 

Cse>ar con- 

cause — and the Italian peninsula under the qucrs the 
command of his devoted follower M. An- for^sTn"^ 
tonius, had set off in person for Spain. " I ^pam. 
go,'' he said, " to encounter an army without a general ; 
I shall return to attack a general without an army." 
The three Iberian provinces were held by good and 
veteran soldiers ; but were commanded by Varro, Afran- 
ius, and Petreius, a man of letters, a man of fashion, and 



138 TJie Roman Triuminraies. ch. vii. 

a stiff regimental officer. Caesar might hope to despatch 
them all quickly ; but he was detained by the defection 
of Massilia, which lay on his route, and now shut its gates 
against him at the instigation of Domitius, the same 
Pompeian officer whom he had so recently spared at 
Corfinium. This important city held as it were the keys 
of the Transalpine province, of which it was the principal 
emporium. It was necessary to reduce it at any sacrifice 
of time and resources ; but Caesar left three legions to 
invest it, while he passed by it himself, and pushed on, 
crossing the Pyrenees, and throwing himself upon the 
Pompeian forces which held the line of the Ebro. 
The events of the brief and spirited campaign which 
followed are told in the concise and nervous narrative 
of the conqueror, who succeeded, after suffering great 
hardships from flood and famine, and displaying singular 
ability and fruitfulness of resource, in reducing his op- 
ponents to submission. The Pompeian soldiers for the 
most part took service under him ; once more Afranius 
and Petreius, with their principal officers, were allowed 
to go free. From Ilerda Caesar marched swiftly south- 
ward, and easily brought Varro to terms at Corduba. 
There he found a store of treasure already accumulated 
for the campaign against him, and returned from his ad- 
venturous expedition reinforced with fresh supplies both 
of men and money. The Massihans made no further 
resistance. Domitius escaped and rejoined Pompcius 
in Epirus, and added another element of rashness and 
violence to his noisy and discordant camp. But Caesar 
had effected the reduction of the West. At this moment 
he might have declared himself the acknowledged sove- 
reign of one half of the empire. 

During his absence the citizens at Rome, inspired by 
his influential agent, Lepidus, had proclaimed him die- 



B.C. 49 . CcBsar' s fiscal measures. 139 

tator. Some of the prescribed forms had 

^ Lse ar is 

indeed been omitted ; but httle care of legal created 

forms had been taken in many recent elec- 
tions. The dictator had been created, it seems, by the 
praetor, in place of the consul, with the acclamations of 
the people, and not by the suffrage of the senate or the 
curies. It was better, however, that the commander of 
the legions should rule under a known historical title than 
with none at all. The people, who saw the odious power 
of a dictator wielded at last by a champion of their own, 
rejoiced in the master whom they seemed to have them- 
selves chosen, and forgot for the moment that Caesar 
ruled by the army and not by the voice of their comitia. 
It was for fiscal measures which brooked neither delay 
nor weakness, that the appointment of a dic- 

Importance 

tator was demanded at this crisis. When, ot his fiscal 
in the middle of the seventh century of the 
city, the futile laws against usury had been suffered to 
fall into abeyance, a consul was found to carry a sweep- 
ing law for the reduction of all debts by three-fourths. 
The money-lenders, who demanded interest from twelve 
to forty per cent., exclaimed loudly against this confisca- 
tion of their property ; but it was impossible to maintain 
the government except by such violent enactments from 
time to time. Nor indeed did the money-lenders of 
Rome suffer permanently from these arbitrary measures, 
any more than the Jews suffered from even harsher in- 
terference with their gains in the Middle Ages. The 
spirit of luxury growing with the greatness of the empire 
gave fresh impulse to their transactions. Large classes 
of citizens were lying overwhelmed by the weight of their 
obligations. Among the various interests evoked in 
favor of Caesar's schemes, none were more atttached to 
him than those of the debtors and repudiators. His 



1 40 TJie Roman Triumvirates. CH. vii. 

hereditary connection with the party opposed to the 
noblest and vveakhiest classes, his reputed familiarity 
with Catilina, his own early embarrassments and laxity 
of principles entailed by them, all pointed him out as the 
destined leader of a great fiscal revolution. But the an- 
ticipations thus formed of him were deceived. Assailed 
by clamorous importunity, the dictator, absolute as he 
was, refused to yield to the cry for confiscation. He ap- 
pointed arbitrators for the valuation of debtors' property, 
and insisted on its sale ; all he required of the creditors 
was that they should forego their claims for excessive 
interest. He seems, further, to have resorted to the old 
expedient of the tribunes in distributing grants of land 
among the bankrupts, and relieving the state from the 
dangers of a needy aristocracy. 

The chief measures of Caesar's dictatorship included 
a liberal distribution to the wants of the poorer citizens, 
the revocation of the enactments of Sulla 
establishes which had condemned even the children of 
ve?nmeift°~ ^^^ victims to civil incapacity, and the con- 
and then cession of citizenship to the inhabitants of 

abdicates. . . , 

the Cisalpme. At the end of eleven days 
he abdicated his office ; but he caused himself to be 
elected consul, together with his now declared adherent, 
Servilius, for the ensuing year. The actual consuls were 
suffered to retain their nominal magistracy to the close 
of their legitimate term, which was at the moment expir- 
ing. Nothing was henceforth wanting to the regularity 
of his government: neither-the decrees of a senate — for 
he had assembled more than one-half of its members at 
Rome — nor the election of the people, nor the sanction 
of the curies and of the auspices taken on the spot ap- 
pointed by religion. Coesar, as proconsul, was a rebel 
from the moment he quitted his province ; but as soon as 



B.C. 48. Ccesar crosses the Adriatic, 141 

he became consul, lawfully installed, the right seemed to 
pass at once to his side, while his adversaries were trans- 
formed into enemies and traitors. This they themselves 
tacitly acknowledged ; for, numerous as they were, in- 
fluential as they seemed to be, they dared not enact a 
law, nor hold an election, nor confer an imperium. The 
representative of the people had become the guardian 
of usage and public, order, while the champion of the 
oligarchy derived his arbitrary power from the passions 
of a turbulent camp. But in fact the names both of 
Senate and People were little regarded amidst the ex- 
citement of personal contention. Caesar and Pompeius 
were now the real watchwords of parties ; and even the 
children playing in the streets divided themselves, we 
are told, into Csesarians and Pompeians. 

Csesar, victorious everywhere by land, had made no 
effort, it would seem, to contest with his adversary the 
possession of the sea. He trusted to the 
rapidity of his movements and to the many crosses the 
chances of maritime enterprise, to throw' his u c"7o6.' 
forces across the narrow channel between ^■^- ^^^ 
Italy and Epirus, and evade or discomfit the flotillas op- 
posed to him. He reached Brundisium, where he had 
collected a number of transports, and on the 4th of Jan- 
uary, B.C. 48, three days from his leaving Rome, he 
embarked seven legions, amounting to 15,000 infantry 
and 600 cavalry. Bibulus, the commander of the Pom- 
peian fleet, failed to intercept them, and could only at- 
tack and destroy the empty vessels on their return to re- 
ceive a second division. Caesar had himself crossed 
over with the first, but he was not in a position to act 
with vigor until the arrival of Antonius with additional 
succors. He is said to have hastened, in his impatience, 
to bring over these reinforcements in person, and to have 



142 The Rotnan Triu7nvi7'ates. ch. vii. 

been driven back by a tempest in which he had with 
difficulty persuaded his trembhng pilot to embark. "Fear 
not," he had exclaimed ; " you carry Caesar and his for- 
tunes." When indeed Antonius succeeded at last in 
crossing, he was wafted a hundred miles below the point 
where his chief expected him ; and Pompeius, who lay 
between, might easily, it should seem, have overpowered 
him. But most of the places on the coast had eagerly 
attached themselves to the cause of the assailant. The 
means of supply for the unwieldy hosts of the senate 
were not, perhaps, easily attainable. Whatever was the 
cause of this delay Caesar promptly took advantage of 
it. He was enabled to throw himself between Pompeius 
and his magazines at Dyrrhachium, and confine him to 
his secure position on the rocky promontory of Petra. 
Pomceius indeed felt little concern at this manoeuvre. 
He could occupy himself in training the loose and mot- 
ley auxiliaries who had thronged to his standard, even 
while his adversary, with such inferior numbers, ventured 
to draw his lines around him. The confinement, how- 
ever, of the great commander by his daring assailant 
could not fail to have a great moral effect, dispiriting his 
own friends and exalting the hopes and expectations of 
his enemies, and of the populations which watched them 
far and near. After a time Pompeius found his situation 
become intolerable ; he made a strenuous and well-di- 
rected attack upon his besiegers, broke their lines with 
his superior force, and drove them from before him. But 

Caesar had now secured a party in the heart 
Sacked of Greece and Macedonia, and thither he 

befo-e retreated, intending probably to fall upon 

Scipio, who was bringing succors to his son- 
in-law from the East. Pompeius hastened to follow him. 
The two rival captains dogged each other's steps from 



B.C. 48. Battle of Fharsalia. 143 

place to place, till at last they met in the valley of the 
Enipeus, an affluent of the Peneiis, on the plains of 
Pharsalia. 

The nobles in the senatorial camp had amused them- 
selves with quarreUing about the expected spoils of the 
war, which thev hoped to terminate with a ^ . 

' ' -^ Both armies 

triumphant victory. Cato was so shocked manoeuvre in 
with their truculent threats that he sought a ^''^^ ^' 

command which should detain him on the coast of Epi- 
rus ; and Cicero, who had repaired once more to the 
side of Pompeius, now pleaded ill-health, and remained 
behind also. But the more sanguine spirits of the party 
still urged their chief to the battle from which he would 
fain have shrunk ; nor could his officers bring him into 
the field till Caesar threatened a flank movement which 
would have cut off his communications. Yet his army- 
boasted a legionary force fully 40,000 strong, with 7,000 
horse, supported by a countless host of foreign allies ; 
while Ceesar had but 22,000 well-trained infantry and 
1,000 cavalry, with a few irregular battalions. 

On August 9 (June 6) the Pompeians descended from 
their camp to the plain beneath, having the little stream 
of the Enipeus on their right. Caesar hast- 
ened to the encounter, levelling the ram- saiia.^° ^'^' 
parts of his entrenchments to facilitate the ^ *^ ^06. 
egress of his troops in line of battle. Ex- 
tending his cavalry on his right, he ordered his first line 
to charge, after halting just before they came within 
reach of their opponents' spears, to take breath for the 
final onset. The knights and senators who fought in the 
Pompeian ranks were equipped in complete armor, and 
the Cassarlans were directed to waste no blows on their 
helms and corslets, but strike direct at their unprotected 
faces. Thus assailed, they soon broke their ranks, re- 



144 The Roman Triumvirates. ch. vii. 

treated, and fled, the support of the cavalry on their 
flanks having been baffled by Caesar's German horse. 
Pompcius had already abandoned the field, retiring to 
his camp at the first turn of fortune. There he would 
have rallied his troops and defended the works, but the 
routed battalions fled precipitately past them. The 
Caesaiians pressed closely upon him, and almost sur- 
prised him in his tent. Leaping on his horse at the last 
moment, he galloped swiftly away, escaped through the 
hinder gate, nor drew rein till he had reached Larissa. 
His discomfited battalions made a faint show of defence 
at a good position which they had assumed in the rear 
of their encampment ; but, dismayed by the flight of 
their commander, they soon gave way before the re- 
newed attack of their indefatigable pursuers. It was 
Caesar's maxim to " think nothing done while aught re- 
mained to do;" and on this occasion he exemplified it 
to the utmost. He allowed his victorious soldiers no re- 
spite till the whole force of the Pompeians was utterly 
dispersed, or reduced to capitulate before nightfall. A 
few only of the senators got away in the darkness. 

The battle of Pharsalia obtained, however, one honor- 
able distinction in the annals of civil warfare. From the 
close of the day no more blood was shed ; 
The loss on ^^ fugitives were spared, and the captives 

I oth sides. * . 

received mercy. The victors lost only 
thirty centurions and two hundred, or, as some stated, 
twelve hundred legionaries; of the vanquished there 
fell ten senators, forty knights, and six thousand of all 
ranks of citizens. The slaughter among the foreign 
auxiliaries was probably much greater. Domitius was 
the only noble of distinction that perished ; he was cut 
down in the flight by Ciesar's cavalry. Many were cap- 
tured; many also hastened to give ihcmselves up to the 



B.C. 48. Flight and Death of Pompeius. 145 

conqueror, whose fame for clemency was now generally 
established. As he rode across the field of battle he 
expressed his grief, and perhaps his remorse, at the 
sight of his countrymen's corpses. " They would have 
it so," he exclaimed; "after all my exploits I should 
have been lost had I not thrown myself on the protec- 
tion of my soldiers." Assuredly this was true enough, 
whatever be the value of the excuse. 

The remnant of the vast army of the East was scat- 
tered far and wide. No reserve had been provided on 
the field, no place assigned for rallying at a ^ 

^ " . Fompems 

distance. Even the naval force was dis- seeks refuge 
persed or distant. Pompeius rushed through and fs^^there 
Larissa, hurried down the vale of Tempe to murdered. 
the mouth of the Peneiis, took ship on board a merchant 
vessel with a handful of attendants, and gained the island 
of Lesbos, whither he had removed his wife Cornelia. 
Running thence along the coast of Asia, he picked up a 
few of his adherents, and held council with them, chiefly, 
it would seem, about his own personal safety. His first 
idea of seeking an asylum at the court of Parthia was in- 
dignantly overruled. To take refuge with the king of 
Egypt, a dependent of the republic, was deemed both 
safer and less dishonorable. The wealth of Egypt was 
unbounded, its position well-nigh inaccessible to an 
enemy destitute of a fleet. Ptolemseus was young and, 
doubtless, timid ; possibly he might acknowledge a duty 
towards the senate which had befriended him. Pompei- 
us arrived off Pelusium with about 2,000 men — too few 
or too many for his safety. The court of Alexandria 
had well weighed the situation. Engaged as it was in a 
contest with Cleopatra, the king's sister, it discussed the 
claims of the Roman fugitive, but rejected his dangerous 
alliance. The victim was inveigled into a boat, under 



146 The Roman Triumvirates. CH. vii. 

pretence of being conveyed into the royal presence. He 
was murdered at a blow, and his head cut off to be pre- 
sented to Caesar on his expected arrival. The body was 
flung into the surf, where it was picked up by a chari- 
table hand, and hastily consumed with fuel from a broken 
vessel. On the stone which covered the remains the 
same hand inscribed with a blackened brand the illustri- 
ous name of " Magnus." The history of Rome, fertile 
as it is in tragic issues, affords no more signal instance 
of a reverse of political fortune. But though Pompeius 
must fill, next to Caesar, the largest space on our canvas, 
his character was common and uninteresting, and his 
career, however splendid and dramatic, has left no such 
impress on the history of the times as that of his great 
rival, or even that of Cicero or of Cato. 

Pompeius had fled from the scene of his defeat ; but 
the sea was closed agahist the conqueror by his naval 
^ armameixts. Caesar was enabled, indeed, by 

tabiishes the treachery of C. Cassius, who commanded 

Alexandria. i^i the straits, to throw himself across the 
u.c. 706-7. Hellespont ; but though the military forces 

of the senate had dispersed in all directions, and offered 
no resistance, he could not transport his own army into 
Asia, but was attended in his pursuit of Pompeius by no 
more than a single legion. In the Asiatic provinces, 
however, he was received with enthusiasm, and for- 
warded oti his way. Pompeius had gained no love 
throughout the ample regions he had conquered and 
organized. Ccesar picked up a few vessels on the coast, 
and presented himself, with four thousand men, before 
the capital of the Ptolemies within a few days from the 
death of his rival. The king's ministers hastened to pro- 
duce the head of the murdered man ; but he turned from 
it with horror. Without a moment's delay or hesitation, 



B.C. 47, CcEsar's operations in Egypt. 147 

he entered Alexandria in military array, with the ensigns 
of a Roman imperator and consul. The populace was 
disturbed. Mercenary battalions, composed of Greeks, 
Romans, and Asiatics, which maintained the unpopular 
throne of the Macedonian dynasty, were excited to quar- 
rel with the Caesarians, and some encounters took place 
between them. Caesar required money. He seized on 
the person of the young king ; he listened to the solici- 
tations of the king's sister, Cleopatra; who was intriguing 
against her brother, and required him to share his power 
with her. But the king's ministers, who had offended 
her, trembled for themselves. One of them, Pothinus, 
was arrested and put to death ; but Achillas called the 
soldiers and citizens to arms, enclosed the intruding 
Roman in one quarter of the city, and reduced him to 
desperate straits, in the crisis of which he was obliged to 
swim for his life, with his Commentaries, so said the 
legend, in one hand. In the course of his defence Csesar 
fired the Egyptian fleet, and the flames consumed the 
great library of the museum, with its 400,000 volumes. 
He consented at last to restore Ptolemaeus ; but on the 
arrival of reinforcements from Syria he was enabled to 
assume the offensive. He overthrew the royal army on 
the banks of the Nile, when Ptolemaeus himself perished 
in the stream. The Egyptians accepted Cleopatra for 
their queen at the command of the conqueror. 

We can hardly suppose that the great warrior and 
statesman allowed himself to be drawn into this perilous 
adventure by the charm, as has been com- Campaign 
monly reported, of Cleopatra's beauty and against 

Pll3.ril3CCS 

accomplishments. More probably he had u.c. 707, 
fixed his eye on the treasures of Alexandria, ^'^' '^^' 
the wealthiest city of the ancient world, to furnish him 
with the means he so much required, while he firmly 

L 



148 The Roman Triumvif-aies. ch. vii. 

abstained from the usual resource of plunder and confis- 
cation. When at last his fortune extricated him from 
the struggle, he allowed himself indeed to remain three 
months longer to complete the advantage he had gained. 
As long as the Pompeians were still scattered, he lost 
little by postponing the prosecution of the war against 
them. He might even wish the disheartened remnant 
to gather head again, that he might once more strike 
them down at a blow. Meanwhile, he made a campaign 
against Pharnaces, the son of Mithri dates, who had pro- 
fited by the general confusion to attack Deiotarus and 
Ariobarzanes. These Eastern kings had been enrolled 
as allies of Pompeius, but they were dependents of the 
republic also, and as such Csesar now undertook to defend 
them. Again, perhaps, he was in want of money. The as- 
sailant was easily defeated in the battle of Zela ; so speed- 
ily indeed that the victor, according to the story, could an- 
nounce his success to the senate in the three words Vaii^ 
vidi, vici, — "I came, I saw, I conquered." After regu- 
lating with all despatch the affairs of the East, he has- 
tened back to Italy, where his presence began to be re- 
quired. 

The measures which the dictator had enacted for the 
adjustment of debts could not be universally acceptable. 
Many other causes of discontent were rife 
ces in Italy. i^ the city and throughout Italy. Cselius, a 
u.c. 707. clever intriguer, who, like Curio before him, 

had deceived even Cicero by his pretensions to patriot- 
ism, excited disturbance at Rome. The consul ServiHus 
acted with firmness, and caused him to be expelled from 
the senate and declared incapable of public office. 
Thereupon he joined himself with Milo, who had crept 
out of his place of banishment and had armed his 
numerous gladiators in the south of Italy ; and the two 



B.C. 46. Troubles at Rome. 149 

together raised a tumultuary force of outlaws and 
banditti. The sedition, however, was promptly sup- 
pressed, and both its leaders perished. 

It required a strong hand to maintain a secure and 
settled government amidst the perils which threatened 
it from within and from without. Doubtless, the attach- 
ment of the citizens to Caesar was confirmed by the fero- 
cious menaces of the Pompeians, which still reached 
them from a distance. Even the victory of Pharsalia 
could hardly avail to reassure them, while 
the conqueror was still plunging farther into a^econd*^iim°e! 
the remote East, and the military forces of ^-J-^^oy- 
his enemy, supported by their powerful 
navy, were still accumulating in his rear. Nevertheless, 
his adherents removed the images of Pompeius and 
Sulla from the forum, and his secret enemies were con- 
trolled by spies, and required to join every demonstra- 
tion of the general satisfaction. Then came the news 
of the death of Pompeius, attested by the exhibition of 
his ring to the citizens. Friends and enemies now com- 
bined to flatter the irresistible conqueror. Decrees were 
issued investing him with unlimited power to raise men 
and means for the suppression of the republicans, who 
were again making head in Africa In October, B.C. 48, 
Caesar was created, in his absence, dictator by the senate 
for the second time, while, for the satisfaction of the 
people, the powers of the tribunate were decreed to him 
for life. He appointed M. Antonius his master of the 
horse and commandant in the city. Brave, but violent 
and dissolute, Antonius lacked both sustained vigor and 
prudence. Sinister rumors began to circulate. Caesar 
was in peril at Alexandria. Sedition raised her head, 
and Antonius shrank from the risk of failure in attack- 
ing it. Disturbances were excited by Cornelius Dola- 



150 The Roman Triumvirates. ch. vii. 

bella, a weak profligate, burdened with debts, a son-in- 
law of Cicero, who, like Caelius, raised the terrible cry 
of " New Tables," or an extinction of debts. Antonius 
summoned courage to repress the tumult, but not till 
Dolabella had personally affronted him. The dema- 
gogue had got himself adopted into a plebeian house in 
order to obtain the tribuneship, and he was allowed to 
enjoy the legal inviolability with which that office in- 
vested him. In September, b.c. 47, C^sar returned to 
Rome, and at once all men and all factions quailed be- 
fore him. 

The traditions of the civil wars pointed to a barbarous 
proscription ; but the clemency of Caesar was a star of 
^ ^ hope to the citizens, and they were not dis- 

( sesar at k ome ... 

and third time appointed in it. He was satisfied, at least, 
uc. 708. with seizing on the estates of the men who 

"•^ ^^- were still in arms against him, and with 

putting up to public sale the property of his great rival. 
The dictator remained only three months in Rome. He 
appointed consuls for the closing period of the year, and 
designated himself with yEmilius Lepidus for the year 
next ensuing. He caused himself to be again created 
dictator ; the financial crisis had not yet passed, and, 
doubtless, a firm hand was required with competent 
powers to carry the commonwealth through it. He 
loaded his partisans with offices and honors, and sated 
the populace with largesses. This lavish expenditure 
of money seems to have been his chief means of govern- 
ment. But when his soldiers demanded the fulfilment 
of his golden promises, and his own favorite Tenth 
Lesrion broke out into mutiny, he sternly 

Mutiny of the f' ^ ,,• ' , u- 

Tenth Legion rcfuscd couccssion. Calling the soldiers 
suppresse . together in the Campus Martins, he con- 
fronted them unattended, mounted his tribunal, and de- 



B.C. 47- The Republican Forces in Africa. 151 

manded the statement of their grievances. At the sight 
of their redoubted general their hearts failed, their 
voices faltered ; they could only plead piteously for their 
discharge. "I discharge you, citizejis T' replied the 
imperator. The effect of this last simple word was 
magical. To the fierce and haughty soldier the peace- 
ful title of citizen seemed a degradation. He entreated 
to be restored to his standards, and offered to subijiit to 
military punishment. This striking anecdote is often 
cited to show the military pride of the great nation of 
warriors ; but it testifies more particularly to the effect 
of the long period of warfare to which the soldier had 
been now so commonly subjected, and to the scorn 
which the professional swordsman too often feels else- 
where than in Rome for the name and character of 
civilian. The veterans of Camillus, of Scipio, perhaps 
even of Marius, would not have disdained to be ad- 
dressed as Roman citizens. 

Thus reassured of the force and temper of the weapon 
he wielded, Caesar hastened away again to crush the 
gathering of his enemies assembled in the 
province of Africa. The defeated host had cant "transfer 
been scattered at Pharsalia in many direc- their forces 

-' to Africa. 

tions ; but the largest division of the fugi- 
tives had made its way to Dyrrhachium, and had there 
taken breath to concert its further movements. Cato, to 
whom the command was offered, waived it in favor of 
Cicero, the consular and the proconsul ; but the orator de- 
clined to engage further in a struggle which he regarded 
as hopeless, and withdrew sorrowfully into Italy. Cnaeus, 
the violent son of Pompeius, would have laid hands upon 
him, and he was glad to throw himself at last on Caesar's 
clemency. Thereupon Scipio assum.ed the command, 
and carried the main body to Utica. Cato, at the head 



152 



The Roman Triumvirates. ch. vii. 



of another division, skirted the coasts of Greece and 
Asia, picking up some fleeing adherents of the cause. 
He followed in the track of Pompeius ; but when in- 
formed of his chief's assassination he landed on the 
shore of Libya, and demanded admission into Cyrene. 
The natives shut their gates ; but Cato respected their 
fears, and refrained from chastising them. Anxious now 
to effect a junction with Scipio, he coasted westward as 
far as the Lesser Syrtis, and then plunged with his little 
army into the sandy desert. The march through this 
torrid and trackless region occupied seven days, and was 
celebrated as an act of chivalrous endurance, which 
might raise the character of Cato above that of many 
victorious and triumphant imperators. The object of 
undertaking it is hard to comprehend ; but in this as in 
many other details of Roman military history we must 
allow for our imperfect knowledge of the means availa- 
ble for the operations in hand. On joining the bulk of 
the republican forces in the Roman province, Cato was 
indignant at the position of his colleagues in command, 
Scipio had sought the aid of Juba, king of Numidia, an 
ally and hitherto a dependent of the republic. But this 
prince had seized the opportunity to exalt his own im- 
portance, and presumed on the large resources he 
could bring, as well as on his recent services to the cause 
in his defeat of Curio, to take the first place in the re- 
pubhcan councils. Cato was glad to escape from this 
humiliation by accepting a local command at Utica, the 
chief place in the province and the principal port for 
communication with Italy. Nor were his friends less 
willing to be relieved from his importunate susceptibili- 
ties. For a time, perhaps, they felt themselves secure 
from Caesar's pursuit, for Caesar was still deficient in 
naval resources. They forgot the loss of their great 



B.C. 46. Battle of Thapsiis. 153 

army and their still greater chief, and flattered them- 
selves that victory vv^as still in their hands. Labienus, 
the renegade, had now become their chief military ad- 
viser, while Scipio was surrounded by Afranius, Petreius, 
the sons of Pompeius, and other leaders of the party, 
all abundantly confident in themselves, and loud in de- 
nunciation of their enemy. But their military capacity 
was slender; of political vision they had none at all. 

Such was the posture of affairs in the republican 
camp, when Caesar suddenly appeared off the coast with 
the small division of his troops for which he could se- 
cure means of transport, having evaded the vigilance of 
Scipio's fleet. He summoned the leaders of the force at 
Adrumetum to surrender to Caesar "the imperator." They 
replied, "There is no imperator here but Scipio," and put 
his herald to death as a deserter. The dic- 

Csesar s 

tator sailed on to Leptis, and landing there, victory at 
with the good- will of the inhabitants, awaited u.c.^708.^ 
further succors. There he was menaced by b.c. 46. 
Scipio ; and Labienus, who frequently led the opposing 
cavalry, flung bitter taunts at the veterans whom he had 
so often led to victory. But Caesar maintained himself 
quietly within his entrenchments till he could move for- 
ward with five legions, while by making an alliance with 
the Mauretanians he was enabled to drive away Juba to 
the defence of his own capital. Scipio had no spirit to 
combat him alone. The republican force drew off; 
Caesar advanced, and was rapidly gaining the upper 
hand. After a time Juba rejoined his friends, and made 
them feel that they had become more than ever depend- 
ent upon him. He forbade Scipio to wear the imperator's 
purple cloak, which pertained, he said, to kings only. At 
last, on April 4, the armies met on the field of Thapsus. 
Some of Caesar's troops were fresh levies, and he was 



154 The Roman Triumvirates. ch. vii. 

not sure of th^ir steadiness ; but the impetuosity of the 
redoubted Tenth leL,noa f-trced on the battle, and carried 
the imperator along with it. Caesar invoked his wonted 
good fortune, and spurring his horse took the lead of his 
battalions. The combat was soon decided. The Nu- 
midian elephants turned upon the ranks which they were 
placed to cover. The native cavalry, dismayed at the 
loss of their accustomed support, hastened to abandon 
the field. Scipio's legions made little resistance. Sepa- 
rated from their fleeing officers, they begged for quarter ; 
but a frightful massacre was made of them, which Cassar 
was unable to conLrol. Scipio, escaping to the coast, was 
taken and slain. Juba and Petreius fled together and 
sought refugj in Zama, but the Numidians refused shelter 
to their tyrant and his companion. Thus repulsed, the 
fugitives first ate and drank together ; then, in the spirit 
of barbarian gladiators, challenged each other to mortal 
combat. Petreius was first to fall in the duel; Juba threw 
himself on his own sword. 

Cato was now left to defend himself alone in Africa. 
His own course had been long decided ; but he allowed 
^ , ^ his followers to choose for themselves 

Death of 

Cato at between submission, or flight, or resistance 

to the utmost. The senators and knights, 
despairing, it is said, of pardon, would have held out ; 
but the traders and men of peace, long settled in Utica, 
had little to fear from yielding, and insisted on a timely 
surrender. Cato closed all the gates except that which 
opened upon the port, and urged his associates to take 
to the sea. With his son and a few devoted friends who 
refused to leave him he sat down to supper on the eve of 
Caesar's arrival. He discoursed with more than his usual 
fervor on the highest themes of philosophy, especially 
on the generous paradox of the Stoics, that the good 



B.C. 46. Death and Character of Cato. 155 

man alone is free, and all the bad are slaves. Mean- 
while the embarkation was proceeding. Cato sent re- 
peatedly to inquire who had already put to sea, and what 
were the prospects of the voyage. Retiring to his 
cli amber he took up the " Dialogue on the Soul," in 
which Plato has recorded his dying master's last longing 
for immortality. Looking up, he observed that his sword 
had been removed. He sent for his friends, rebuked 
them for their unworthy precaution, " as if," he said, "he 
might not at any time kill himself by dashing his head 
against the wall, or merely by holding his breath." Re- 
assured, perhaps, for a moment by the calmness of his 
demeanor, they restored him his weapon, and, at his 
earnest desire, left him once more alone. At midnight 
he inquired again about the departure of his followers. 
The last vessel, it was r^^plied, was just leaving the quay. 
He then threw himself on his couch ; but when all was 
quiet he seized his sword and thrust it into his body. 
The blow was not immediately mortal, and he rolled 
groaning on the floor. His attendants rushed in ; a sur- 
geon sewed up the gash. But on coming to himself, he 
repulsed his disconsolate friends, and, tearing open the 
wound, expired with the same dogged resolution which 
through life had distinguished him. 

There is something so Roman, and at the same time 
so peculiar, in the character of this hero of ancient history 
that a few words may well be bestowed on 

1 . Character of 

a speci'al notice of it, Cato of Utica, as he Cato of 
is commonly called, to distinguish him from 
his great-grandfather, Cato the Censor, inherited from 
his ancestor the rugged disposition of the Sabine high- 
landers. He was naturally harsh in temper, quaint in 
humor, strict in the discharge of duties interpreted in a 
narrow sense, enduring much himself and exacting no 



156 The Roman Triumvirates. ch. vii. 

less of others. The elder Cato had struggled through 
life resisting the influence of Grecian ideas, which he 
deemed wholly pernicious, though in his latest years he 
had deigned at last to make himself acquainted with the 
Greek language. His descendant, after the lapse of a 
century, had yielded altogether to the new lights which 
had pervaded his country, and had received at least the 
outward polish of the literature and philosophy of the 
schools. The time had in fact just arrived when the 
more sensitive and sanguine spirits at Rome were begin- 
ning to throw off the blind devotion of a ruder age to 
mere form and ceremonial, and look into their own 
hearts for the moral resources which had become neces- 
sary to them. Cato himself was a religious enthusiast, 
but he was, in Roman phrase, full of the god within his 
own breast, and retained no external object of belief. 
From the time of Plato at least the philosophers of Greece 
had taught men to loDk into their own hearts for the rule 
of spiritual life. It was but recently that this subjective 
idea of religion had been introduced into Rome, where it 
met with little intelligent acceptance. For the most part, 
those among the Romans who most readily rejected the 
creed of antiquity, cast themselves on the tenets of the 
Epicureans, which were, in fact, a mere negation of re- 
ligion altogether. Those who, like Cato, embraced the 
system of the Stoics, were even more rigid and pedantic 
in their notions than their masters, and of these none 
was more eminent for the strictness of his rule, and his 
devotion to his ])rincij)lc, than the philosophic statesman 
who gave up his life for his faith at Utica. Cato died for 
his religion as much as any martyr of the heathen or the 
Christian world ; for he held it as a religious duty to 
maintain the constitution of his country; but the error 
or the vice of his system was that he acknowledged no 



B.C. 46. Ccesar returns to Rome. 157 

duty to any Being exterior to himself, to whom he owed 
his existence, and for whom he was bound to support it. 
According to the severe logic of his false philosophy, 
when the republic had perished, his own work, though 
left undone, was, as far as he was concerned, practically 
finished. There was now no further place for him in 
life ; wherefore he bowed to his destiny and quitted it 
without a murmur. The melancholy result of this error 
was that the pupils of Cato's school elevated it into a 
principle, and Seneca and others both defended and 
followed it. 



CHAPTER Vlll. 

TYRANNY AND DEATH OF C^SAR. 

The suicide of Cato forms a dignified close to the liber- 
ties of Rome. Both in life and death he was a repre- 
sentative man ; and viewing the subject from 
our point of view, we can hardly wish that confeTr^ed 
the bravest champion of the ancient polity "P2? C^sar 
should have allowed his career to be pro- 
tracted under the conditions which would have been 
thenceforth imposed upon it. Nevertheless, it is only 
just to the conqueror to observe that Cato had nothing 
to fear for his life or personal freedom under the dictator 
and imperator. Caesar lamented that he had lost the^ 
satisfaction of pardoning him his treason to the consti- 
tuted public authority, while to his comrades in arms he 
exhibited the same clemency which had so long distin- 
guished him. Nevertheless, unnecessary and useless as 
this celebrated act of self-sacrifice may appear, it has 



/^ 



158 TJie Roman Triumvirates. ch. viii. 

done more, perhaps, to exalt the free-state and degrade 
the empire in the imagination of later generations than 
could have been effected by a supine or sullen acquies- 
cence in evil fortune. A superstition has at times pre- 
vailed that an injured man, in committing suicide, may 
fasten an avenging demon on the author of his calami- 
ties. Stained with the blood of Rome's best son, the 
victor of Thapsus returned to his country vitiated and 
debased. The honors which a subservient senate now 
heaped upon him have lowered him in the eyes of pos- 
terity, even more than they exalted him in those of his 
contemporaries. After uniting to the African province 
a part of Numidia, and placing the remaining portion in 
the hands of his own allies, the dictator repaired once 
more to Italy at the end of July, B.C. 46. He was re- 
ceived as the conqueror of a foreign enemy. Statues 
rose in his honor. One fronted the altar of Jupiter in 
the Capitol; another stood on a globe, and was in- 
scribed in the Greek language, for the idea was still Hel- 
lenic only, to " Caesar, the demi-god." The seventh 
month of the year, the fifth of the most ancient calendars, 
exchanged its name, Ouintilis, for that of Julius. The 
dictatorship was now conferred upon Caesar for ten years, 
and was presently settled upon him for life. He received 
the censorship under a slightly different title, which gave 
him power to revise the list of knights and senators, to 
degrade whom he would, to thrust whv-.m he would into 
the highest orders of citizens. He was to nominate 
many of the chief magistrates hitherto elected by the 
people, and to appoint the governors of divers provinces, 
which had been the prerogative of the senate. The title 
of imperator was prefixed to his name ; and the laurel 
wreath, which was given to him, it is said, to disguise his 
baldness, became a more signal symbol of power than 



B.C. 46. The title of Impei'ator. i^cj 

the regal diadem, which alone was withheld from him. 
Nor was he ashamed to arrogate to himself the name of 
father of his country, the most glorious appellation a free 
people can bestow, which had been conferred by decree 
upon Camillus, by acclamation upon Cicero. 

Of all these titles the most remarkable was the prefix 
of Imperator, which has thus descended through many 
generations even to our own times, and still 

bT^. , . .^ , , The ti tit of 

ears a political signincance, as popularly imperator 

conveying the idea of a despotic ruler. But prefixed, 
such was by no means strictly the meaning attached to 
it by the Romans of the period before us. The " impe- 
rium" from which it was derived was no doubt the rule 
of a master ; but this rule might be delegated by law and 
controlled by appropriate checks. The consul was him- 
self subject to the law ; nevertheless, he possessed the 
imperium for certain purposes, under the restraint of 
election by the people, and of eventual responsibility to 
them. The commander of a legion had the imperium, 
or military control, of his soldiers and of the province in 
which they served, and he received the title of impera- 
tor ; but his authority was limited in place, in time, and 
in object. His title, conferred legitimately by the senate, 
was ratified by the less regular acclamations of his sol- 
diers when he gained them a victory. The imperator of 
an army in a province abroad bore the title after his own 
name, as with any other limited magistracy. Caesar, as 
proconsul of Gaul, was " C^sar imperator " in relation to 
the legions with which he conquered Gaul. But when 
he became consul and dictator in the city he was no 
longer the rules of a province or the commander of a 
provincial army. Chief of the state at home, he was at 
the same time engaged in the defence of the whole em- 
pire against foreign or domestic foes in every quarter. 



i6o The Roman T^'iiimvirates. CH. viii. 

He was rendered by the force of circumstances com- 
mander-in-chief of all the legions, and his province was 
the empire itself. Such, it would seem, was the idea con- 
veyed to the minds of the citizens by prefixing the title 
to his name instead of appending it. The distinction was 
real ; it was invented to meet an actual need ; and it was 
legitimately conferred by the senate itself, a subservient, 
no doubt, but still a constitutional body. The title so 
conferred bore little significance in the city. Cicero does 
not seem to make any reference to it. Csesar did not 
stamp it on his coins. It was directed towards foes and 
foreigners, not towards the citizens. Some generations 
later, the reigning emperors could still insist warmly on 
the constitutional distinction between the " imperator 
over the soldiers," and " prince or premier among the 
citizens," This distinction was indeed too soon lost. 
The authority of the Imperator came to be regarded as 
supreme over every class and order in the state. But it 
should not be forgotten that Suetonius and Dion Cassius, 
who boldly assert that Caesar himself received the title 
in token of his despotic sovereignty, speak in the sense 
of their own later times, and are no proper exponents of 
its original and legitimate signification. 

Pompeius had triumphed thrice- Caesar now claimed 
an accumulatiou of four triumphs ; the first for his con- 
quest of the Gauls; the second for his de- 

Caesar cele- ^ 

brates four feat of Ptolemifcus ; the third for his victory 
nump s. over Pharnaces ; the last for the overthrow 

of Juba. He condescended to respect the maxim of his 
countrymen, that a civil war can earn no such popular 
distinctions, and refrained from celebrating the public 
catastrophe at Pharsalia. These four solemnities were 
kept with a few days' interval between each. The pro- 
cession formed again and again in the Campus. Hence 



B.C. 45 . Ccesar' s shows and largesses. 161 

it defiled through the triumphal gate at the foot of the 
Capitoline. In crossing the Velabrum the imperator's 
car broke down, a mischance which so affected him that 
he never again mounted a vehicle without muttering a 
charm. The long march wound round the southern 
angle of the Palatme to the point where the arch of Con- 
stantine now stands There it mounted the gentle slope 
which leads under the arch of Titus, paved at this day 
with huge blocks of stone which may possibly have 
echoed to the tramp of Csesar's legions. Inclining to 
the right at the summit of the Velia and facing the 
Comitia and the Rostra, it passed the spot where the 
Julian temple was afterwards erected ; thence it skirted 
the right side of the Forum till it reached the point just 
beyond the arch of Severus, where the two roads 
branched off, the one to the Capitoline temple, the other 
to the Mamertine prison Caesar took the route of 
triumph to the left, while his captive, Vercingetorix, was 
led away to the right, and strangled in the subterranean 
dungeon. The Gaulish hero doubtless met his fate with 
his well-tried courage and dignity, while his conqueror 
was exhibiting a wretched spectacle of human infirmity, 
crawling up the steps of the Capitol on his knees, to 
avert the wrath of an avenging Nemesis. 

The Gaulish captive was undoubtedly slain. It is said 
that other victims perished with him, but the sons of 
Juba seem to have been spared ; one of 
them at least survived as a tranquil student liberality to 
in the days of Augustus. Arsinoe, the cki^enJ. ""'"^ 
sister of Ptolem.aeus and Cleopatra, was par- 
doned, perhaps for the sake of the dictator's paramour ; 
for Cleopatra herself followed her admirer to Rome, and 
was there entertained by him in high state. The mag- 
nates of the city, even Cicero himself, courted her favor. 



1 62 The Ro?nan Triumvirates. ch. viii. 

The soldiers who attended on their general's chariot — 
men of strange tongues and countenances, Gauls, Span- 
iards, and Africans — chanted ribald songs with the 
license of the old Roman legionaries, in mockery of the 
leader whom they adored ; he smiled and paid them 
their expected gratuity of 20,000 sesterces (200/.) a- 
piece. The largess was extended in due proportion to 
the whole body of the unarmed citizens, each of whom 
was well content wnth a present of 400, The people of 
Rome were entertained at a banquet spread on 22,000 
tables, which may have accommodated 200,000 guests. 
This festival was followed by shows m the amphitheatre 
and circus. The multitude of beasts and gladiators 
who were almost indiscriminately sacrificed moved some 
pity even in the brutalized populace ; but the more 
thoughtful of them were doubly shocked by the license 
which Cassar allowed to Roman knights of combating 
in the arena. It was all the worse, perhaps, that these 
combats were, it seems, almost wholly voluntary ; the 
violence of the times htid engendered a thirst for vio- 
lence and bloodshed. Laberius, a knight who was re- 
quired thus to exhibit himself, complained of the in- 
dignity to himself, but took no thought of its inhu- 
manity. 

Caesar had long since commenced a great reconstruc- 
tion of the interior of the city. The ancient Forum was 

contracted in space, and the population had 
Forum. '^" far outgrown the accommodation it afforded. 

Ca:sar had indeed himself erected his noble 
basilica on one side of it, and encouraged ^milius 
Paulus to confine it with another, not less sumptuous, 
directly opposite. Such large halls were of great con- 
venience to the crowds who met together for public 
business in an open area exposed to all the vicissitudes 



B.C. 45. Battle of Munda. 163 

of climate. But the area itself required to be enlarged, 
and the dictator had cleared away some buildings on its 
northern side, enclosing the space thus acquired with 
colonnades, and opening an entrance into it. The 
Julian Forum, as this area was denominated, was 
adorned with a temple of Venus " the ancestress," from 
whom the Juhan family was reputed to have sprung, and 
with an equestrian statue of the imperator himself — 
really a bronze effigy of Alexander the Great, by Lysip- 
pus, with a new head to it — which became one of the 
most notable features of the great city. Succeeding em- 
perors - Augustus, Nerva, and Trajan — made fresh ad- 
ditions to these public areas, each giving his own name 
to tne Forum of his own construction, till the centre of 
Rome was expanded into one large open space, divided 
only by public halls and temples. 

While the issue of the African campaign was yet un- 
decided, Cnaeus, the elder son of Pompeius, had thrown 
himself into the Iberian peninsula, in which -y^^^j. j^^ g -^ 
his father's interest was still strong, and had \^^ battle of 

° Munda, 

there proclaimed himself, not the liberator of uc 709. 
the commonwealth, but the avenger of his ^ ' '^^ 
family's wrongs. He had gathered around him adven- 
turers of various kinds. Many even of Caesar's vete- 
rans, dissatisfied with their rewards, had betaken them- 
selves to his standard, and some of the southern cities 
of the province had lent him the shelter of their walls 
Caesar refused to recognize this new assailant as a legi- 
timate enemy ; but when his officers failed to suppress 
the spirit of brigandage which animated the rebel host, 
he at last took the field in person, and allowed himself 
to treat them, not as citizens, but as outlaws or barba- 
rians. Cnaeus, indeed, had set the example of ferocity, 
for of all the leaders of the civil wars this man seems to 

M 



1 64 The Roman Triumvirates. CH. viii. 

have been the most sanguinary and brutal. The con- 
test was carried on mainly in the valley of the Guadal- 
quivir and the defiles of the Sierra Morena. The strug- 
gle, protracted for several months, was closed, however, 
on the field of Munda, where Caesar, after encountenng- 
great personal danger, gained at last a complete victory. 
Thirty thousand of the vanquished party perished ; 
among them were Varus and Labienus, with many other 
nobles. Cnaeus escaped from the field, gained the coast, 
and put out to sea; but being forced to land to get re- 
lief for an accidental hurt, having cut his foot in releas- 
ing himself from a tangled rope, he was discovered and 
killed, after a miserable struggle. Of all the republican 
leaders, Sextus, the younger son of PompeiuS; was now 
the sole survivor in arms. He hid himself in the wildest 
districts of the peninsula, making alliance with roving 
bands of natives, till occasion served for reappearing, 
after some interval, on the public scene. For a time, 
however, he was forgotten or neglected. Caesar devoted 
some months to arranging the affairs of the western 
provinces, and thoroughly crushing the republican fac- 
tion in that quarter. The battle of Munda had been 
fought on March 17, but the conqueror was not at liberty 
to return to Italy before September. 

In the following month Caesar celebrated a fifth tri- 
umph, which he pretended to have gained, not over the 
citizens and the chiefs of the party opposed to him, but 
over the still unconquered natives of the 
Calendar IbcHan pcninsula. He then proceeded to 

requires addrcss hunsclf to domestic reforms and 

correction. 

projects of public benefit, of which a gen- 
eral outline will be here sufficient. Among the fi'st was 
the revision of the Calendar, a matter of great concern, 
political as well as scientific. The Calendar of Numa, as 



B.C. 45. Reform of the Calendar. 165 

it was called, hitherto in use, had assigned to the year a 
period of 354 days, with the intercalation every second 
year of a month of 22 and 23 days alternately, which 
would have given an average of 365 days and 6 hours : 
so near had the ancient astronomers arrived to the pre- 
cise length of the earth*s revolution round the sun. But 
another day, it seems, had been added to the 354, to 
make an odd or fortunate number ; and to compensate 
for this excessive addition, the number of intercalations 
was diminished by an intricate process. Much careless- 
ness had prevailed in making the requisite corrections. 
The pontiffs to whom the duty had been entrusted had 
abused it for political objects, to favor the candidature of 
a partisan, or to postpone the day when his debts might 
be demanded. The control of the Calendar had become 
an engine of state in the hands of the oligarchy, and 
constituted one of the grievances of the plebs But lat- 
terly, in the general confusion of affairs, the pontiffs had 
generally abstained from intercalation. The year had 
been restricted to its 354 days ; the designated months 
and seasons had fallen far into arrcar of the solar time. 
So it was that the consuls who were appointed to enter 
upon office on the ist of January, B.C. 46 ( u.c. 708 ), ac- 
tually commenced their functions on the 13th of October, 
B.C. 47. The Roman seasons were marked by appro- 
priate festivals on certain fixed days. At the period of 
harvest and vintage, seasonable offerings were to be 
made accordingly : and this had now become no longer 
possible. The husbandman was reduced to reject the 
use of the Calendar altogether, and to depend on his 
own rude observations of the rising and setting of the 
constellations. 

But Caesar had acquired a competent knowledge of 
astronomical science, and discerned at the same time 



1 66 The Roman Triumvirates, CH. viii. 

how popular a use he could make of it. He 

The re- ^ ^ 

formed or availed himself, moreover, of the services of 
Caiemiar. Sosigenes, the ablest astronomer of the day, 

who divided the 365 days of the old Calen- 
dar among the twelve months in the order they have 
since retained, and intercalated a single day, as we still 
do, every fourth year. Some error in the working of this 
system, which was not attributable to himself, caused 
another slight correction to be made a few years later. 
It was not for several centuries that the further error was 
discovered, and finally reformed, by dropping this inter- 
calation on the recurrence of certam centennial years, as 
decreed by Pope Gregory XIII., and accepted in this 
country in the middle of the last century. As regarded 
the actual crisis at which the Roman Calendar had ar- 
rived, Caesar added as many as 90 days to the year of 
the city, 709, or B.C. 45. He inserted an intercalary 
month of 23 days between the 23rd and 24th of February ; 
and at the end of November he added two new months, 
each of 30 days, together with a supplemental addition 
of 7 days more. The whole period thus comprised 
355 -|- 90, or 445 days. Marked by this series of altera- 
tions, it received vulgarly the appellation of the " year 
of confusion ;" but the " last year of confusion," it has 
been justly remarked, would be its more ai)propnate title. 
During the whole of this long ypar the dictator con 
tinued to preside over affairs at the centre of the empire, 
and with his new enactments and projects rendered it 
perhaps the most illustrious in the Roman annals. His 
measures were principally directed to the enfranchise- 
Measiires nicnt of Communities, of classes, and of in- 

for extend- dividuals, by which continued process he 

ing the Iran- ■' ' 

ch-se, in- meditated the gradual fusion of the pro- 

creasine the . . , ..iz-ti iiii i 

scn.uo, &c vinccs into the city Itself He added largely 



B.C. 45. Ccesar founds Colonies. 167 

to the numbers of the senate, which had been no 
doubt much reduced by the massacres of the civil wars. 
We hear, indeed, of the senate dividing once or twice 
just before this period, to the number of more than 
400; but Caesar increased it at once to 900. Doubtless 
he lowered the popular estimation of the august assembly 
by thus cheapening its honors ; but he still more de- 
graded it in the eyes of the older citizens by pouring into 
it his allies from the provinces, his rude Gaulish soldiers, 
and even, if we may believe the stories of the day, the 
captives who had just followed his triumph. The Ro- 
mans exercised their wit on these upstart strangers losing 
themselves among the columns of the Forum, and posted 
placards recommendmg that no good citizen should show 
thera the way to the senate-house. But the policy of 
abating the pride of the oligarchy, and attaching foreign- 
ers to the state by opening to them its honors, deserved 
a deliberate ancia patient trial, which, in fact, it never 
received. The same populace who mocked or resented 
this intrusion were willing to surrender to the great con- 
queror their own privilege of appointment to all public 
offices ; and he could hardly prevail upon them to give, 
by their votes in the Campus, even a color of free elec- 
tion to the men whom he recommended. 
The consuls, praetors, and other officers ment 10 

continued to exercise their ordinary func- 
tions under the dictator's superintendence. But as the 
avowed champion of the people, Caesar claimed the dis- 
tinction of the tribunician power, which also rendered 
his person legally inviolable, and invested it with a cer- 
tain religious sanctity in the eyes of the multitude. He 
allowed himself to be surrounded by a body-guard of 
noble citizens, elsewhere the august privilege of kings 
only. In the senate and other public places he seated 



t68 The Roman Triumvirates. CH. viil. 

bimself on a golden chair, in a robe of regal magni- 
Hcence, and the imperium, or military supremacy which 
had been given him for his own life, was rendered, if we 
may believe some later writers, transmissible to his chil- 
dren. Issue, indeed, of his own he had none, unless 
Csesario, the child of Cleopatra, was really his; and per- 
haps even the servile populace would have shrunk from 
giving themselves a master in the baseborn offspring of 
a foreigner and an Egyptian. But Ccesar had a nephew, 
the promising young son of his sister by a Roman noble, 
who will soon come prominently upon the stage. 

But we return to the projects of the great dictator 
during the course of the year which, under happier aus- 
pices, might have really become the last of 
Cffisar founds Q\y-^ strife and political confusion. The 

colonies. ^ 

military statesmen of Rome had generally 
adopted one of two plans for relieving the impoverished 
classes of the city, and drafting off fron\Rome itself the 
superfluous masses of its soldiery. Pompeius and Sulla 
had seized upon the forfeited estates of their adversaries 
throughout the peninsula, and planted their veterans 
upon them ; but the effect of these forcible assignments 
had been generally disastrous. They had embittered 
strife and engendered perpetual animosities among the 
sufferers, while they had demoralized the men whom 
they were meant to serve, and rendered them both idle 
and turbulent. Caesar reverted to the ancient method 
of settling new colonies of Roman citizens, and he 
selected, from policy or generosity, some of the cities 
which had suffered most from their rivalry with Rome, 
and of which Rome had up to this time never ceased to 
be icalous. He proposed thus to restore Corinth, Capua, 
and Carthage ; and all his colonics, thus wisely chosen, 
grew and flourished, and became in after ages some of 



B.C. 44- Ccesar' s destined Heir. 169 

the noblest cities of the empire. Corinth significantly- 
adopted the name of Laus Julia ; perhaps she looked 
forward from the first to the project he already con- 
templated, of cutting through the isthmus, and thus 
minghng in one harbor the commerce of eastern and 
western Greece, of Europe and of Asia. The liberal 
views which the dictator entertained for the extension 
of the Roman franchise might lead him to regard Rome 
herself as no longer an isolated municipium, but the 
centre and capital of the Roman world. As he pro- 
ceeded to lay the groundwork of a comprehensive 
scheme of universal legislation, his first care was to de- 
velop the material unity of the vast regions before him 
by an elaborate survey of their local relations. The 
Roman land-measurers were accustomed to 
draw the boundaries of public and private jects. Survey 
estates. Italy and the provinces were to a °^ ^^^ empire. 
great extent marked out by their terminal stones and 
limits. A commission of geographers and mathemati- 
cians was now appointed to execute a survey of the 
whole empire, a work of labor which seems to have been 
steadily continued, even through the turbulent years that 
followed, till it issued in the great map of Agrippa a 
whole generation later. Another effort, not less gigan- 
tic, was required to impress a moral unity upon this 
mighty machine. Caesar prepared to collect and com- 
bine in a single code the fragments of Roman law, dis- 
persed in a multitude of precedents, in the edicts of 
praetors, the replies of counsellors, the decisions of pon- 
tiffs, and the traditions of patrician houses. No doubt 
he would have completed this undertaking 
by bringing the laws and customs of the Codification of 
various provinces into working harmony 
with those of the ruling city, and adjusting the ever-con- 



170 Tlie Ro7?ian Triumvirates. ch. viii. 

flicting pretensions of the Roman and the subject before 
the tribunals at home and abroad. Such an important 
work had been aheady imagined by Cicero as the hope- 
less vision of the philanthropic philosopher ; but Cassar's 
practical sagacity saw that it not only ought to be done, 
but could be done ; and it is possible that, had he lived 
ten or twenty years longer, he would have anticipated 
by six centuries the peaceful glory of Justinian. 

To these may be added some great material works 
which the dictator projected nearer home. He was am- 
bitious of advancing the pomoerium, or sacred limit 
within which the auspices could betaken; and he would 
probably have given a greater circuit to the walls of 
Rome, Avhich had never been extended 

Caesar pro- 

)-:cts the since the early demarkation of Servius, and 

cir the walls, w'ere now thrown down or obliterated in 
*''^^' many quarters. He would have reco.i- 

structed a real line of defence embracing the Campus 
Martius; and the Campus itself he would have enlarged 
by turning the Tiber westward with a bold sweep from 
the Milvian to the Vadcan bridge. Further, he planned, 
it is said, the emptying of the lake Fucinus, the draining 
of the Pomptine marshes, the construction of a canal 
from Rome to Tarracina, a new road across the Apen- 
nines, and a capacious harbor at Ostia ; a grand com- 
bination of schemes to be conceived at one moment by 
one head, the utility of which was perceived by his suc- 
cessors, and most of which were actually accomplished 
by them in the course of after ages. 

The heir whom Caesar destined for the imperium was 
already in the camp at Apollonia. This young man was 
C. Octavius, the son of Atia, daughter of the dictator's 
sister, Julia, who was now (at the beginning of B.C. 44) 
in his nineteenth year. Ca:isar had promoted his house 



B.C. 44. Conspiracy against Ccesar. 171 

from the plebeian to the patrician order. He allowed it 
further to be understood that he meant to make him his 
own son by adoption, and bequeath to him his patrimo- 
ny, together with the dignities which the 

.. Abortive 

senate had declared hereditary m his fami- attempts to 
ly. These dignities, indeed, were not hith- the'^tit.^^of^ 
erto associated in the minds of the Romans ^'"S- 
with any ideas of hereditary succession. They could 
hardly conceive the descent of the dictatorship, for in- 
stance, from the hands of mature experience to those of 
an untried youth, or the establishment of the tribuni- 
cian power, the free gift of the people, in the line of a 
particular family. They would naturally conclude that 
their hero was intent on securing a title, on which alone, 
in their view, a dynasty could be founded. Caesar, it 
was reported, desired to be hailed as king. His flatterers 
suggested it, his enemies readily believed it, and hoped 
to make him unpopular by urging him to advance the 
claim. One morning a laurel garland, with a diadem 
attached, was found affixed to his statue before the 
Rostra. The tribunes indignantly tore it down, the pop- 
ulace expressing satisfaciion at their conduct, and salut- 
ing them with acclamations as the modern Brutuses. 
Caesar affected at least to applaud them. When a sec- 
ond attempt of the same kind was made, and the peo- 
ple again murmured, he hastily exclaimed, " I am no 
king, but Caesar." He began now, however, to show 
some signs of mortification; but his friends, if such were 
the real pro.iioters of the intrigue, still thought the prize 
within his reach. On the i8th of February, the day of 
the Lupercaha, the imperator was presiding in his golden 
chair before the Rostra. His devoted follower, M. An- 
tonius, took a prominent part in the solemnity, running, 
lightly clad, through the streets, with a thong in his 



172 The Roman Triumvirates. ch. viii. 

hand, with which he struck the women who presented 
themselves to receive the blow, which was reputed to 
avert barrenness. When he had run his course he broke 
through the excited throng, and, drawing from his girdle 
a diadem, made as if he would offer it to Caesar, exclaim- 
ing that it was the gift of the Roman people. Some 
clapping of hands ensued, but it was faint and brief, 
and manifestly preconcerted. When Caesar put away 
from him the proffered gift, the applause was hearty and 
spontaneous. " I am not king," he repeated ; "the only 
king of the Romans is Jupiter." He ordered the diadem 
to be carried to the Capitol and suspended in the tem- 
ple, to commemorate the gracious offer of the people 
and his own patriotic refusal. 

This discretion baffled the visions that might be en- 
tertained of a popular rising against the usurper ; but 
feelings of distrust and despair were taking 

Conspiracy 

against possession of many of the more eminent citi- 

zens, and were not confined to the remnant 
of the republican party. Some, no doubt, were disap- 
pointed in their hopes of preferment under the new ad- 
ministration ; but others, who had been advanced to high 
office, still felt aggrieved at the pre-eminence which had 
been attained by one whom they refused to regard as 
more than an equal ; and no doubt the prospect of such 
pre-eminence being transmitted to an inconsiderable 
stripling added a fresh sting to their vexation. A jilot 
against Caesar's life was now deliberately formed. The 
secret was shared among sixty or even eighty conspira- 
tors, some of them the most familiar and the most trusted 
of his personal friends. Decimus Brutus, Trebonius, 
Casca, and Cimbcr, had all received distinguished marks 
of the dictator's favor. C. Cassius professed himself a 
republican ; yet, he too, had avowed his preference for 



B.C. 44- ' Assassination of Ccesar. 17^ 

the merciful Caesar over the fierce and sanguinary sons 
of Pompeius. But he was a man of bitter and jealous 
temper ; a restless intriguer, without a scruple or a 
principle. He worked upon the simpler and kindlier 
nature of M. Junius Brutus, a weak follower of his uncle 
the sturdy Cato, whom he professed to make his example 
in philosophy and also in civic virtue. Brutus was will- 
ing, however, to accept the important government of the 
Cisalpine from the hands of the dictator, and acquiesced 
without a murmur in the political situation. The weak- 
ness of his character may be estimated from the means 
which the conspirators employed to influence him. They 
affixed a paper to the statue of the elder Brutus, with the 
words, "Would thou wert alive." They thrust billets 
into his hand inscribed, " Brutus, thou sleepest ; thou art 
no longer Brutus." But they rightly calculated the effect 
of his name in their ranks, which seemed to give a dis- 
tinct aim to the undertaking, and to invest it with a 
patriotic color. 

The intrigue soon ripened to its execution. Csesar 
had assumed the consulship, together with M. Antonius, 
and had announced, at the commencement of the year, 
his intention of leading a great force into the East to 
avenge the slaughter of Crassus, and of triumphing over 
the rival kingdom of Parthia. He even meditated, it is 
said, to return by the northern coast of the Euxine and 
crush the hostile league with which Mithridates had 
threatened to knit together the barbarians beyond the 
Danube. The preparations for the imperator's departure 
was almost complete. The senate was convened for the 
Ides of March, the 15th of the month. On Caesar 
this day, as soon as he should enter the nated^'" 
Curia, the blow was to be struck. The 17th March 15, 
of that month was the day on which Pom- b.c! 44. 



174 The Roman Triumvirates. CH. viii. 

peius had quitted the shores of Italy; the 17th was 
also the day of Caesar's crowning victory at Munda; 
but the popular imagination seems to have antedated 
an anniversary of so much note in the hero's career, 
and the prediction was already current that the Ides 
of March should be fatal to him. Hitherto he had 
spurned every warning of danger ; the easiest death, he 
had been recently heard to say, is that which comes 
most unexpectedly. He had even dismissed the guard 
which the senate had assigned for the protection of his 
person. So far he had refused to take any precautions. 
But his consort Calpurnia had a bad dream ; the victims 
presented evil omens. At the last moment he seemed 
to hesitate. On the other side, Marcus Brutus was not 
less moved, and was sustained in his resolution only by 
the constancy of his wife, the noble Porcia, the daughter 
of Cato. Decimus Brutus, with more nerve, still urged 
Caesar to presejit himself in the senate-house, and made 
a jest of his scruples. Caesar advanced; but as he pro- 
ceeded along the Fo'-um towards the theatre of Pompeius 
in the Campus, more than one person pressed, it is said, 
upon him, to warn him of his danger. One, indeed, 
thrust a paper into his hand, and implored him to read 
it instantly. But he paid no heed, and held it still rolled 
up unread when he arrived at the hall of assembly. 
" The Ides of March are come," he observed com- 
placently to the augur Spurinna. " Aye," muttered the 
sage, " but they are not yet passed.'' He entered the 
hall, his enemies closing around him and keeping his 
friends aloof, Trebonius being specially charged to de- 
tain Antonius at the door. On taking his seat, Cimber 
approached with a petition for his brother's pardon. 
The others, as was concerted, joined in the supplication, 
seizing his hands and embracing his neck. C.Tsar at 



B.C. 44- Reflections on Ccesar' s Charade?: 175 

first put them gently aside ; they redoubled their urgency ; 
Cimber grasped his toga with both hands, and pulled it 
over his arms. Then Casca, who was behind, drew his 
stylus, or a dagger concealed in its case, and grazed his 
shoulder with an ill-directed stroke. Ccesar disengaged 
ons hand with a cry, and snatched at the hilt. " Help !" 
cried C^sar, and at the moment the others drew, and 
aimed each his dagger at their victim. Cassar for an 
instant defended himself, and even wounded one of his 
assailants with his stylus ; but when he noticed Brutus 
in the press, and saw the steel flashing in his hand also, 
"What! thou too, Brutus!'' he exclaimed, let go his 
grasp of Casca, and drawing his robe over his face, 
made no further resistance. The assassins stabbed 
him with thirty wounds, and he fell dead at the foot of 
Pompeius' statue. 

Caesar was assassinated in his fifty-sixth year. He was 
hacked to death with three-and-twenty blows, of which 
one only, it was said, would have been in itself mortal. 
In early life his health was delicate, and he was subject 
to epileptic fits, which attacked him in his ^ 

X\. c III 3. r iC s 

African campaign, and again before the bat- on the 
tie of Munda. Yet the energy and rapidity of Julius 
of his movements seem to prove the general Csesar. 
robustness of his constitution. Had he escaped the 
stroke of the assassin he might probably have attained 
old age, and carried out himself the liberal schemes 
which he left to be more or less mutilated by a successor 
in the empire a quarter of a century later. 

The name of Julius Caesar has filled a larger space in 
secular history than any other. Such has been the effect 
produced on the imagination of posterity both by the 
greatness of the work which he accomplished and by the 
intrinsic greatr.ess of his own character. The reduction 



176 The Roman Triumvirates. ch. viii. 

of the unwieldy commonwealth of Rome under a single 
autocrat was doubtless an abortive effort, terminating in 
the premature death of its author and the overthrow of 
his government. It is easy to say that it was not Caesar 
but Augustus after him that established the Roman em- 
pire. Nevertheless, the man who first conceives and 
executes a great design may command more attention 
from mankind than one who works upon his lines, and 
brings his designs to completion ; and so it is that from 
generation to generation men have been wont to regard 
the immortal Julius as the first of the Caesars and the 
first of the Roman emperors. To him as their political 
parent the great autocrats of Europe have ever since af- 
filiated themselves ; to the imperial rule derived from 
him modern civilization, it must be confessed, has been 
largely indebted, till it has ripened in a few favored 
communities into constitutional monarchies, and re- 
turned only here and there to the republican type out 
of which it emerged. The part which Caesar has played 
in the development of human society through so many 
centuries must make him still the most conspicuous of 
all the actors on the world's stage before us. 

Our estimate of this great man's actual ability stands 
on another footing, and must be referred simply to the 
definite judgment pronounced upon it by the historians. 
While other illustrious men have been reputed great for 
their excellence in some one departnient of intellect, the 
concurrent voice of antiquity has declared that Citsar 
was excellent in all. " He had genius," says Cicero, 
" understanding, memory, taste, reflection, industry, and 
exactness." "He was great," repeats Drumann, "in 
everything he undertook ; as a captain, a statesman, a 
lawgiver, a jurist, an orator, a poet, an historian, a gram- 
marian, a mathematician, an architect." Pliny tells us 



B.C. 44- Reflections on CcBsar's Character. 177 

that he could devote his mind without distraction to 
several subjects at once ; he could write, dictate, and 
listen at the same moment. At the same time we are 
assured that in all the exercises of the camp his vigor 
and address were not less conspicuous. He fought at 
the most perilous moments in the ranks of the soldiers ; 
he could manage his charger without the use of reins ; 
he saved his life at Alexandria by his skill in the art of 
swimming. But of all his talents his personal influence 
over men seems to have been the most effective. Of all 
great men he seems to have been personally the most 
amiable, and to have retained the respect and love of 
his fellows notwithstanding a laxity of principle which 
shocked even his own corrupt times. And this is, per- 
haps, the more singular, inasmuch as Caesar is pour- 
trayed to us as singularly devoid of the impulsiveness 
and enthusiasm which so often extort our forgiveness 
for grave moral delinquencies. But it is evident that 
none came in contact with him without succumbing to 
the charm of his superior intelligence, of his courage, his 
sense, his unerring judgment, still more, perhaps, of his 
unfailing success. The deep-rooted selfishness of his 
personal ambition was lost, it may be presumed, on a 
generation of unblushing self-seekers. 

But it is as a general that Csesar stands, after all, most 
pre-eminent ; the common voice of antiquity has been 
echoed by many of the greatest commanders of modern 
times, and we may regard his military fame as legiti- 
mately established. Neither he himself, in his own 
commentaries, nor his lieutenant, who continued them, 
makes the slightest effort to disguise his occasional 
failures, or the straits to which they reduced him. All 
commanders have made such mistakes ; but it is the 
special praise of Caesar that his mistakes always tended 



178 TJie Roman Tf'iumvirates. ch. ix. 

to bring out the extent and variety of his resources, and 
to show the depth and deUberate character of his plans. 
The blows inflicted on hini by the Treviri and by Ver- 
cingetorix prepared the way for his final conquest of 
Gaul; the repulse at Petra brought the civil war to a 
crowning triumph at Pharsalia ; the check at Alexandria 
resulted in the subjugation of the richest kingdom of the 
East. It was not so with Hannibal ; it was not so with 
Napoleon. 



CHAPTER IX. 



CAIUS OCTAVIUS SUCCEEDS TO THE INHERITANCE OF 
JULIUS C^SAR. 

When the conspirators looked round the hall was already 
empty. The senators had fled with precipitation. Cen- 
turions, lictors, and attendants had vanished 
makes his with them, and the harangue which Brutus 

eBcape. proposcd to deliver found no Iiearcrs. An- 

tonius had slipped through the crowd, exchanged clothes 
with a slave, and made his way to his own house on the 
Carina;. Among the citizens there was general conster- 
nation, none knowing on whom the next blow might 
fall, or which party would be the first to resort to riot 
and massacre. Both had arms within reach. On the 
one hand Decimus Brutus had provided for the ilefence 
of his friends by placing some gladiators hard by in the 
Pompeian theatre ; on the other, the city was filled with 
the dictator's veterans, and Lepidus, his master of the 
horse, commanded a legion outside the walls. 

The assassins now marched forth, brandishing their 
bloody weapons, and wrapping their gowns about ihcir 



B.C. 44 The Liberators appeal to the People. 179 
left arms as a defence against a sudden at- Antonins 

1 rT-<i_ 1 1 1 T^ T 1 seizes on 

tack, iney reached the Forum, preceded Csesar's 

by a cap of liberty hoisted on a spear, ex- effecte.^" 
claiming that they had slain a king and a 
tyrant. The place was filled with an agitated crowd, 
but these cries met with no response among them. Dis- 
concerted by this indifference, the liberators, as they now 
called themselves, retired hastily to secure a place of 
refuge on the Capitoline. Here, with the aid of the gla- 
diators of Decimus, they barred the gates of the enclosure. 
In the evening some of the nobles came to join them ; 
among these was Cicero, who, though previously uncon- 
nected with the conspiracy, recovered hope from its first 
success, and advised that the senate should be convened 
immediately. But Brutus preferred to make another 
appeal to the feelings of the populace. On the morrow 
he descended into the Forum. To him indeed, person- 
ally, the people listened with respect ; but against others 
who next addressed them they broke out into violence, 
and drove the whole party back to their place of shelter. 
Meanwhile Antonius had not been idle ; he had com- 
municated secretly with Calpurnia, and obtained posses- 
sion of her husband's private treasure, and also of his 
will. With the aid of his two brothers, one a praetor, 
the other a tribune, he opened, as consul, the national 
coffers in the temple of Ops, and drew thence a store of 
coin, with which he made advances to Lepidus, and 
received promises of support. 

M. Antonius, who is now coming prominently to the 
front, had been hitherto slightly regarded as minister and 
companion of Caesar ; but from' this mo- 

^ . . Antonins 

ment he assumed m many eyes the position as consul 
of his natural successor. Hitherto known the senate 
chiefly for his amours and his dissipation, he 

N 



i8o The Roman Triumvirates. ch. ix. 

was now about to display the arts of a consummate poli- 
tician. Cicero stood alone in dissuading the liberators 
from negotiating with him. But they believed in his 
professions of loyalty, and hoped to gain an ascendency 
over the pliant temper which had always yielded to the 
influence of the dictator. It was agreed that as consul 
he should convene the senate for the next day, the 17th 
of March. He appointed for the place of meeting the 
temple of Tellus, near the Forum, which he filled with 
armed soldiers. The liberators dared not leave the 
Capitol, and the discussion of their fatal deed was carried 
on in their absence. The majority of the fathers would 
have stigmatized Caesar as a tyrant, and thereby justified 
his assassination ; but when Antonius represented that 
this would be to annul his acts and appointments, Dola- 
bella and others interested in them resisted the decree 
with all their might. While the senators still deliberated, 
Antonius went forth into the Forum. The people hailed 
him with acclamations, bidding him at the same time 
beware for his own life. The senators were uneasy at 
this demonstration, and Cicero pointed out to them the 
only course that could relieve them with dignity from 
their embarrassment. He demanded an aymiesfy, or act 
of oblivion, which should simply confirm every existing 
appointment, and leave the deed of the conspirators to 
the judgment of posterity. In private he had declared 
himself a warm approver of the tyrannicide ; but he now 
confessed in his public acts that the peace of the city and 
the interests of the senate required a compromise. An 
amnesty was decreed. The next day Cicero 

An amnesty , ^ t i ^ ^ i rr^i 

tiecreed, harangued and calmed the populace. The 

March 17. liberators were invited to descend from their 

place of refuge, Lepidus and Antonius sending them their 
own children as hostages, and the one entertaining 



B.C. 44. An Amnesty proclaimed. i8i 

Brutus, the other Cassius at supper. Antonius and 
Cassius were rude men, and some rude repartees passed 
between them. " Have you still a dagger under your 
arm ? " asked the one. " Yes, truly," repHed the other ; 
"to slay you with if you aspire to the tyranny." Next 
morning all parties met again in the Curia, and the dic- 
tator's assignment of provinces was confirmed. Trebo- 
nius succeeded to Asia, Cimber to Bithynia, Decimus to 
the Cisalpine, while Macedonia was secured to Marcus 
Brutus, and Syria to Cassius, on the expiration of their 
office as praetors at home. 

Notwithstanding the power thus surrendered to the 
republican leaders, Antomus was still master of the sit- 
uation. Since Caesar was not "a tyrant," and his "acts" 
were sustained as legitimate, his testament must be ac- 
cepted, and his remains honored with a 
pubHc funeral. Antonius recited to the mastTi-of 

people their favorite's last will. He had the situa- 
tion, 
adopted for his son the youthful Octavius ; 

he had endowed the Roman people with his gardens on 
the bank of the Tiber, and bequeathed to every citizen 
300 sesterces. This liberality warmed the feelings of the 
excitable multitude in his favor. The funeral pyre had 
been constructed in the Campus, but the eulogy of the 
deceased was to be pronounced in the Forum. A shrine, 
glittering with gold, was erected before the Rostra, in 
which the body was laid upon a couch of gold and ivo- 
ry ; at its head was suspended, like a warrior's trophy, 
the toga in which the hero had been slain, hacked by 
the assassins' daggers. The actual remains 
were indeed concealed from public gaze ; funeral. 

but they were replaced by a waxen figure, 
on which his three-and-twenty wounds were faithfully 
represented. Dramatic shows formed, as usual, a part 



I82 



The Roman Trhwivirates . ch. ix. 



of the funeral ceremony, and the sensibihties of the peo- 
ple were moved by the scenic effect of the deaths of 
Agamemnon and Ajax, caused by the treason or cruelty 
of their nearest and dearest. When they were thus 
melting with compassion or glowing with resentment, 
Antonius stepped forward, as the chief magistrate of the 
republic, to recite the praises of the mighty dead. He 
read the decrees which had been heaped on Cassar, de- 
claring his person inviolate, his authority supreme, him- 
self the chief and father of his country ; and then he 
pointed to the bleeding corpse, whi^h neither laws nor 
oaths had shielded from outrage. Lastly, with a move- 
ment toward the Capitol, he shouted: "I at least am 
prepared to keep my vov/, to avenge the victim I could 
not save ! " The people had been gradually worked up 
to feelings of fanatic devotion. They forbade the body 
to be carried outside the city ; they insisted that it should 
be burnt within the walls. Chairs, tables, and benches, 
were snatched from the adjacent buildings, a heap of 
fuel was raised before the pontiffs dwelling in the 
Forum and the body hastily placed upon .it. The tem- 
ple of Castor and Pollux stood hard by, on the spot 
where the two majestic warriors in olden time had an- 
nounced die victory of Regillus. Now also two youths, 
of august mien and countenance, girt with swords and 
javelin in hand, were seen to apply the torch. A divine 
sanction was thus given to the deed ; every scruple was 
overruled. The people continued to pile up brushwood, 
the veterans added their arms, the matrons their orna- 
ments ; even the trinkets on the children's frocks were 
cast into the fire. C?esar was beloved by the Romans ; 
Po ular ^^ ^^'^^ ^°^ ^^^^ dcnr to the foreigners, 

excitement Gauls, Ibcrians, Africans and Orientals 

ag.-iinst the i , -i , 

liberators. Crowded around the pile, and gave vent to 



B.C. 44. CcEsar' s funeral honors 183 

their sense of the common calamity. The success of 
Antonius was complete. The populace soon lashed 
themselves into fury, rushed through the streets with 
blazing brands and tried to fire the houses of the 
conspirators. Their rude assaults were for the momenr. 
repulsed ; but Brutus and his associates dared not show 
themselves in public, and either escaped from the city or 
lay concealed within it. 

It was plain that the cause of the liberators was lost at 
the centre of the commonwealth. The populace raged 
against them while the chief of their party 

,, , 1 1 r • • 1 M. Antonius 

m the senate shrank from assistmg them or takes com- 
vindicating their deed. Antonius acted Slv.*^'"^^^ 
with consummate craft in the use he made 
of the amnesty which the senators had decreed. He 
proposed that Sextus, the last surviving son of the great 
Pompeius, should be invited to return to Rome and as- 
sume ^uch a place at the head of his father's friends as 
they should now choose to grant him. He was well 
aware, perhaps, that Sextus, in command of his mari- 
time forces, had other ends in view, and that the name 
of Pompeius had lost all influence over the republican 
party in the senate. But the proposal seemed at least 
conciliatory, and might be taken as a* token of pohtical 
moderation. A still more politic stroke was the resolu- 
tion which he carried for abolishing for ever the office 
and title of dictator, a magistracy not less odious to the 
senate now than it had formerly been to the people. 
But among the excited multitude of the Forum an era 
of turbulence and sedition had set in. The assassina- 
tion of their favorite, Csesar, was the pretext rather than 
the actual cause of the tumults with which they con- 
tinued to agitate the city. Antonius made these dis- 
turbances an excuse for surrounding himself with a 



1 84 The Roman Triumvirates. ch. ix. 

body-guard under the sanction of the senate itself, and 
this force he soon raised to an army of 6,000 men, with 
which he effectually kept peace in the streets. A low 
impostor, named Amatius, pretending to be a kinsman 
of Marius and Caesar, had tried to ingratiate himself 
with the populace. The consuls opposed him with 
energy, overthrew him, and put him to death. Their 
zeal in defence of the republic was blindly applauded by 
the senate. Even Cicero, though he still utterly dis- 
trusted Antonius, could exclaim that his colleague Dola- 
bella was the best and bravest of magistrates. 

The senate had confirmed Caesar's acts. Antonius 
contrived that this confirmation should be extended to 
the public measures which the dictator had 
5tiTuaSl[v?s"" contemplated, even though they had not yet 
been carried into effect. Armed with this 
sweeping decree, he proceeded to forge authority for 
every project he had himself in view. Laws, treasures, 
magistracies, all now lay at his feet. Things which the 
dictator had not dared himself to do Antonius carried 
into execution in his name. He sold preferments and 
provinces, retrieved his own dilapidated fortunes, and 
purchased the support of senators, soldiers, and tribu- 
tary sovereigns. Under pretence of carrying out Caesar's 
latest intentions, he reversed the appointments which 
Ccesar had actually made, and broke his recent engage- 
ment to the liberators in depriving Brutus and Cassius 
of their promised governments. Syria he assigned to 
Dolabella in reward for his opportune support ; Mace- 
donia, with the legions which Cicsar had mustered at 
Apollonia, he seized for himself. The rule of one man 
was absolute throughout the empire. " The tyrant is 
dead," sorrowfully murmured Cicero, " but the tyranny 
still lives." The tyranny still survived in the person of 



B.C. 44. Ociavius comes over to Italy. 185 

the consul ; but the consul, it might be urged, had been 
popularly appointed, his term of office was fixed and 
brief ; at the end of a year at furthest he must descend 
into the ranks of the private citizens. It still remained 
to be seen whether autocratic powers thus strictly Hmited 
could be indefinitely extended in the person of a man 
who possessed no claims to the support of nobles or 
commons, of provincial^ or allies. Never yet had any 
pretender to sovereignty at Rome essayed the crime 
with so little personal influence in his favor. But if 
Antonius should succeed to the province of Macedonia, 
and to the command of the legions of the great Caesar, 
he would have the material instrument of power in his 
hand, and all political calculations must depend upon 
the disposition of this omnipotent soldiery. 

Antonius was a bold and sanguine man, resolute in 
act and confident in his powers ; but in forecasting the 
issue of his daring intrigue he proved after all mistaken. 
C. Octavius had spent some months among the legions 
at Apollonia, and the address with which he had attached 
them to himself gave token of the genius he was about 
to display on a wider theatre. Surprised amidst his 
juvenile exercises by the news of his uncle's ^ octavius 
assassination, he was not yet aware of the arr:vesin 
perilous inheritance which had been settled u.c. 710. 
upon him. But his mother's letters from ^.c. 44. 
Rome, reminding him of the dictator's favor and" of his 
nearness to him in blood, inflamed his hopes, and deter- 
mined him to return at once to the city and brave every 
danger. His friends would have dissuaded him ; but 
the soldiers nearest at hand, moved by the name of their 
hero C^sar, pledged themselves to support him. With- 
out a moment's hesitation the audacious stripling threw 
himself almost alone on the coast of Apulia. Here he 



1 86 The Ro7nan Triumvirates. ch. ix. 

received a copy of Caesar's will, as well as of the senate's 
recent decrees. Thereupon he assumed his legitimate 
designation of Caius Julius Caesar Octavianus, and pre- 
sented himself to the garrison of Brundisium as the 
adopted son of the greg.t imperator. By these soldieis 
he was saluted with enthusiasm ; the friends and freed- 
men of the dictator flocked around him ; the veterans of 
the colonies drew their swords and offered to avenge his 
parent's assassination. But the young adventurer was 
cautious as well as bold. He declined the use or the 
display offeree while he was yet uncertain of the course 
to be pursued. With rare self-command, he contented 
himself with addressing the senate in mild and temper- 
ate language, claiming as a private citizen ihe inheritance 
of a deceased father. Arriving at Cumae, he learnt that 
Cicero was sojourning in the neighborhood. He went to 
visit the desponding patriot, and assured him of the loyal 
moderation of his own views. The veteran but too facile 
statesman was at once captivated, and persuaded him- 
self that the son and heir of the great usurper was a 
faithful child of the republic. At the end of April, just 
six weeks from the dictator's death, the young Caesar 
entered Rome. Antonius was absent at the moment, 
soliciting the adherence of fresh allies throughout the 
peninsula, and disgusting even the lax morality of his 
countrymen by the bold and coarse licentiousness of his 
private conduct. The royal progress which he made in 
company with the Grecian courtesan Cytheris was a fit- 
ting prelude to the splendor of his ignominious amours, 
which were to follow, with the Egyptian Cleopatra, and 
degraded him to the lowest pitch in the estimation of the 
patriots and moralists of Rome. 

Octavius, as it may still be convenient to call the 
young aspirant to the name and fortunes of Caesar, was 



B.C. 44' Octavius gains a position. 187 

at this time less than nineteen years of age; but neither 
his mother, Atia, nor his stepfather, Philippus, could dis- 
suade him from claiming his inheritance. 
He presented himself before the praetor, Caesar's in- 
and avowed himself the son and heir of *^"tance. 
the dictator. He mounted the tribune, and harangued 
the people, pledging himself to discharge the sums be- 
queathed them by his father, which Antonius had failed 
to do. But the consul felt no alarm. He cared not to 
return to Rome before the middle of May, and left the 
field of intrigue open to his diligent rival for one im- 
portant month. Octavius turned every instant to ac- 
count, making many friends and conciliating many ene- 
mies, till he felt himself strong enough to upbraid An- 
tonius openly with his remissness in prosecuting the as- 
sassins. At the same time he publicly laid claim to the 
treasures which were being withheld from him. Anto- 
nius evaded or disallowed the claim : there was no 
money, he said, forthcoming ; the money was not 
CaRsar's, but the state's ; but for his own ingenuity all 
Caesar's fortune would have been forfeited and his acts 
annulled. Octavius was thus thrown upon his own re- 
sources. He sold all he had, he borrowed of his friends 
and kinsmen, and effected the discharge of his public 
obligations. From that moment he assumed a position 
of authority and power. He had gained the people to 
his side ; he had convinced politicians of his ability and 
force of character Antonius now felt that he had to 
reckon with no mean antagonist, and must determine 
whether to deal with him as a friend or an enemy. The 
liberators might give him less uneasiness, for their coun- 
sels were vacillating and timid ; there was none among 
them who could take a decided step for the maintenance 
of the republic. Cicero, though spirited in tone and pa- 



iSS The Roman Triumvirates. CH. ix. 

triotic in sentiment, was wholly without power either 
himself to lead or to breathe animation into his associ- 
ates. The chief men among them occupied themselves 
with their private enterprises, of no general interest to 
their cause. Decimus led his troops against the barba- 
rians in the valleys of the Alps. Cassius withdrew into 
Syria, to seize the command there before his legitimate 
time of office. Sextus Pompeius made descents upon 
various points in the western Mediterranean, intent ap- 
parently on indiscriminate plunder. Brutus quitted 
Rome, but lingered on the coast of Campania, whence 
he gave directions for the praetorial shows which he 
dared not attend in person. At a later period he made 
up his mind to anticipate his term of government in 
Macedonia; but by the time he had crossed the Adriatic, 
Antonius had already secured the bulk of Caesar's 
legions in that quarter. The senators already regarded 
him as their master. When one of their number, Cal- 
purnius Piso, ventured to inveigh against him, his revil- 
ings passed unheeded ; though eminent in rank he had 
no personal character to support ihem. Cicero, who had 
fled reluctantly from Italy, stiU kept in sight of the shore 
he loved, and when driven by the weather to come to 
land in Calabria, refused again to embark, and turned, 
with mournful presentiments, toward Rome. 

The consul had convoked the senate for September i. 
Cicero had entered the city the day before, and was 
Cicero de- gratified by his favorable reception. Like 

c' aims . -against other Statesmen of his time, he never took 

Antonius. 

u.c. 710. account of the excessive instability of the 

■ '*'^' Italian populace. He shrank, however, 

from attending the sitting of the senate. Supplications 
were to be voted ; the dead Caesar was to be enrolled 
among the national divinities. Antonius was present, 



B.C. 44. Cicero declaims against Antonius. 189 

and soon took advantage of the patriot's absence. The 
enmity between the two seems to have been instinctive 
and deep-seated. Cicero had been once banished, and 
his house on the Palatine demolished. Antonius threat- 
ened to repeat the injury ; but his menaces might be re- 
garded perhaps as mere noisy declamations, and made 
little impression. The consul carelessly quitted the city 
to indulge in his licentious orgies at his Tiburtine villa, 
when Cicero seized the occasion to take his own place 
among the senators, and inveigh in set terms against the 
adversary who was in his turn absent. These sham 
duels of the Roman orators, not unfrequently recurring, 
may raise a smile ; but in the present instance they have 
preserved for us some of the most stirring specimens of 
Roman eloquence. The insults of Antonius had stung 
Cicero to the quick, and he retorted with the weapon 
which he found most convenient. First he vindicated 
his own conduct both in leaving the city and in return- 
ing to it. While he refrained from any allusion to the 
tyrannicide, he analyzed the subsequent proceedings of 
Antonius, and exposed his abuse of Caesar's papers, the 
posthumous demands he had advanced, the resolutions 
he had carried through the comitia of the tribes in de- 
fiance of the senate itself. He had recalled whom 
he would from banishment, made what laws he 
pleased, appointed his own creatures to office, and 
pleaded the' will of the tyrant for every act of his 
own selfish and venal policy. The senate, not less un- 
stable than the populace, warmed into admiration, and 
seemed for a moment to respond to the enthusiasm of 
the orator. Antonius himself was roused to fury, and 
hastened back to Rome to make his reply in the curia. 
Cicero was more afraid, perhaps, of his violence than of 
his arguments ; his friends at least persuaded him to 



190 The Roman Triu7nvirates. CH. x. 

avoid a personal collision, and as the one entered the 
city the other withdrew into Campania, The senate 
seenis to have listened obsequiously to whichever in 
turn claimed its attention. 



CHAPTER X. 



THE SECOND TRIUMVIRATE : OCTAVIUS, ANTONIUS, AND 

LEPIDUS. 

While this war of words was raging, Octavius was 
silently undermining the consul's power with more ef- 
Octavins in- fective wcapons. With largesses and pro- 
gratiates him- miscs he was scducing the soldiers from his 

self with the . 

soldiers. rival's Standards. Antonius learnt with 

' - ^^' alarm that the troops which he had himself 
transported to Brundisium were falling under the influ- 
ence of the young Caesar's emissaries. On October- 3 he 
departed in haste to stay their defection. At the same 
moment Octavius also quitted Rome, and visited the 
colonies which Caesar had planted in Campania, Um- 
bria, and the Cisalpine. He called the veterans to arms 
in tho name of their beloved captain, and collected 
among them a force of 10,000 men. At the same time 
the heir of the tyrant and usurper was worming himself 
into the confidence of the unhappy patriot Cicero, who 
was eager to catch at any hope of support; and through 
him he worked upon the main body of the senate. To 
Cicero he addressed himself in frequent letters, praying 
him to return to Rome and once more save the state. 
He promised him regard, admiration, reverence; he 
loaded him with compliments and caresses ; he called 
him father. 



B.C. 44. The rival forces in Italy. 191 

Antoniiis felt that the time was come for vigorous 
action; the " young striphng " was an enemy not un' 
worthy of his utmost exertions. He hastened 
to Ariminum to check the insubordination preparations 
of the troops then quartered on the frontier Jhe^orth"of 
of the Cisalpine. He rebuked them for the ^^^'y- 
leaning they had shown to his rival ; he offered them a 
donative. But he had fallen short of the spirit of the 
times ; while he promised 400 sesterces, the captain of 
the future had assured them of 2,000 a-piece. Antonius 
was, however, still master of the ancient instruments of 
discipline. He smote their centurions with the axe, to 
the number of 300, if we may believe the furious de- 
clamations of Cicero, while his imperious consort, Fulvia, 
stood by and stimulated his vengeance. Upon the 
orator's tirades no reliance can be placed ; but it seems 
that, by whatever means, Antonius brought some bat- 
talions together, and repaired with them, as a body- 
guard, to Rome. On his arrival he summoned the senate 
to hear his charge against Octavius, of raising troops 
without official authority ; for the youthful adventurer 
was invested with no magistracy. At the same moment, 
however, he learnt that two of his own legions had gone 
over to his enemy, and that the city could be held against 
him. There was no place for the consul in the senate- 
house or the forum. He must retire to a distance and 
organize his resources, as Sulla and Marius, Cassar and 
Pompeius, had each done in turn. He had given him- 
self the government of the Cisalpine for the year which 
was about to begin. His first duty as legitimate procon- 
sul would be to drive out Decimus Brutus, whose com- 
mission to the same government he declared to be by 
authority cancelled. He assumed the character of a 
defender of the republic, and summoned the pretender. 



192 The Roman Triumvirates. ch. x. 

who was already on the spot, to withdraw. When he 
arrived at Ariminum his forces amounted to four legions. 
Lepidus, who professed to act in concert with him, was 
advancing from Spain with four more. PoUio was stiD 
beyond the Pyrenees with three others, and Plancus, in 
the Further Gaul, had under him an equal number. 
These were the forces on which Antonius deemed that 
he might rely in his contest with the party of the libe- 
rators. But these legions were still widely separated ; 
the soldiers were disloyal or indifferent, and their leaders 
had each his own private ends to serve. Decimus, from 
his central position, might intrigue with one or other of 
them, and cut them off from mutual support. But 
Octavius was now a military power also, having himself 
raised or detached from Antonius as many as five legions. 
Though possessed of no magistracy, and therefore of no 
legal imperium, still citizens of all classes thronged about 
him from various causes, and placed themselves at his 
disposal. He addressed the senate with a well-toned 
manifesto, which immediately recommended him to them 
as their true champion. Stationing himself at Arretium, 
so as to cover the capital from the attacks of every other 
competitor, he awaited the commencement of hostilities 
in the north of Italy, prepared himself to side with either 
party, or fall upon the survivor of the strife as circum- 
stances might direct 

Such were the complications of this triple contest at 
the end of November in this fatal year. Cicero, whose 
courage had revived, was working with restless activity 
among the senators and citizens at home, striving to 
consolidate all parties against Antonius. He exhorted 
Crero's Decimus ; he caressed Octavius. Doubt- 

i:oi tical less, his real disposition inclined to the fac- 

tion of the liberators, and he might think 



B.C. 44. Cicero' s exaltation at Rome. 193 

Decimus the ablest and not the least honest of the num- 
ber. He could not fail to regard with dislike the 
nephew and heir of Csesar ; but he had been partly- 
won by his dissimulation, and he was content to make 
use of him as an ally, in full belief that he would either 
fall from his own weakness, or easily succumb to the 
superior statecraft of a politician so experienced as him- 
self. He engaged the senate to bestow its honors upon 
Octavius and give him military command ; but he trusted 
much more to the loyalty of the consuls elect, Hirtius 
and Pansa, to raise a force to direct and control him, 
until the time when the heads of the republican party, 
Brutus and Cassius, Trebonius and Cimber, might be in 
a position to return to the West with overwhelming 
armies. Meantime, his efforts were chiefly concen- 
trated on crushing Antonius, The moment had arrived 
for the publication of the Second Philippic, an harangue 
never delivered by word of mouth, but sent _, ^ , 

■' . Ihe Second 

abroad as a written pamphlet, after being Philippic, 
submitted to the mspection of private friends, ^'^■' ' ' ^''' 
and polished to the keenest edge by repeated touches 
from the great master himself. It was the pride of 
Cicero to compare himself to Demosthenes, the orator 
and the patriot, and to represent himself as contending 
against the enemy of Rome, as the Athenian had held 
in check the invader of Greece. The speech was con- 
summate as a political instrument as well as a rhetorical 
composition. It spoke in decided language, branding 
Csesar as a despot, but Antonius as a monster of iniquity. 
The author himself it represented as the stay of the 
commonwealth, the general object of hatred to every 
enemy of his country. It called on the citizens to arm 
with frantic earnestness. The effect corresponded to the 
energy of the blow. The picture drawn of Antonius 



194 '^^■'' Roma7i Triumvirates. ch. x. 

struck the people with horror. The §enate was at last 
moved with courage to defy him. The consuls, though 
personally attached to him, were fixed at once in the 
interests of the repubhc by the applause which hailed 
this stirring proclamation of its wrongs. Cicero, not un- 
justly elated by the shouts which echoed around him, 
believed himself now the mediator between all parties, 
the actual chief of the commonwealth. It was the no- 
blest as well as the purest triumph of any Roman since 
the days of Camillus or Africanus. It was the just re- 
ward of so many years of self-devotion ; and all our 
painful sense of the weaknesses by which that career 
had been disfigured, and which even at this moment 
marred its splendor, may fairly give way to the pleasure 
of contemplating it. 

But Antonius replied to words by deeds. He had 

quietly taken the field, and confined Decimus to the 

walls of Mutina. Cicero urged the senate, 

Ths Cor.suls , . i • i i i ^ 

Hirtiuf -"^nd and the senate, at his behest, urged Octa- 
thTfeM^*^^ vius to attack him ; but while he yet ab- 
r.c. 711. stained from active measures, the friends of 

P.C. 4^. ' 

Antonius pleaded for forbearance, and the 
new 'consuls made yet another effort to preserve peace. 
Envoys were sent, negotiations were opened, but all 
failed. Cicero was loud and furious, and was sustained 
by the favorable accounts which he received from Brutus 
and Cassius, and the prospect of aid from Sextus. His 
influence proved effectual. Early in the year 43 Hirtius 
quitted the city and joined his consular army to the force 
of Octavius. Pansa reached them in the spring with 
fresh levies. In the absence of both the consuls, Cicero 
was allowed and encouraged to take the helm of the 
commonwealth. He poured forth in rapid succession 
his animated harangues against the public enemy ; he 



B.C. 43. Battle of Mutina. 195 

breathed confidence into the desponding, and redoubled 
the efforts of the vahant. Clothed in the garb of war he 
traversed the streets, calling for contributions to the 
common cause, and filling the treasury with fines de- 
manded from the malcontents. At the same time he 
maintained an active correspondence with the chiefs in 
the provinces, assured each in turn of the constancy of 
all thf^ others, and bruited far and wide the high spirit 
of the veterans, the devotion of the people, the fidelity of 
the generals, and their abundant resources. Yet to 
the last the senate declined to recognise in these 
movements a state of civil war. Even when they charged 
Octavius and the consuls to raise the siege of Mutina, 
they would only characterize the contest as a " Gallic 
tumult," or a threatened outbreak of the national enemy 
beyond the Rubicon. 

On the approach of Hirtius and Octavius Antonius, 
the assailant of Decimus, broke up from his lines before 
Mutina, and advanced towards them. He 
still pretended, indeed, to negotiate; but suis faii^efore 
when Pansa moved to effect a junction with Mutina. 

-' April, B.C. 43. 

them, he suddenly turned round, defeated, 
and mortally wounded him. Hirtius, however, was at 
hand to save the routed force from destruction, and he 
gave battle to the conqueror a few days later, with the 
support of Octavius. In this encounter the Antonians 
were, in their turn, driven into their camp ; but the vic- 
torious Hirtius fell in the engagement, and thus both the 
consuls, by an unprecedented fatality, were stricken 
down at the same moment. The Romans, it would 
seem, could not believe that such a strange event was 
mere chance-medley. The rumor ran that Octavius had 
pierced Hirtius in the back with his own hand - a very 
unlikely circumstance ; that he had engaged a surgeon 

O 



196 The Roman Triumvirates. ch. x. 

to rub poison into Pansa's wound — a crime in itself less 
improbable, but on the other hand, one which it was 
only too easy to impute without the possibility of dis- 
proving it. The student of Roman history will remark 
that from this time the insinuation of secret assassina- 
tion becomes more and more an ordinary weapon of 
political hostility, and he will put himself on his guard 
against it. Meanwhile the citizens, high and low, for- 
got, in their rejoicings at the victory, the disaster which 
had attended it. They carried Cicero to the capital with 
the loudest acclamations. He it was that had urged 
them to the war ; in him they recognised the true victor 
of the field of Mutina. They believed the contest to be 
at an end. Decimus, they were assured, had issued 
from his walls, and was pursuing the routed Antonians 
towards the Alps. Plancus, confirmed in his loyalty to 
the republic, was doubtless descending from the North, 
and blocking the passes into Gaul. At the same moment 
some successes of Ca^sius against Dolabella in the East, 
the progress of Brutus in Macedonia, and the rumored 
approach of Sextus by sea, all concurred to increase 
their confidence. 

Before he expired, Pansa, it was said, had called Oc- 
tavius to his bedside, and advertised him of the hatred 

which the senate really bore him, and of 
unites'with ^^^ treachery which they meditated. He 
pfancus ^^^ assured him that, after all, his only chance 

of safety lay in a prompt reconciliation with 
the enemy whom he had just beaten. Nor was the 
crafty aspirant unprepared for such counsels. He had 
already arranged for a quarrel with Decimus, and had 
declared that the murder of his father, Caesar, should 
never be forgiven. He now let Antonius understand 
tlia.t he had no desire to crush his father's friend. He 



B.C. 43. Octavius becomes Consul. 197 

refrained from preventing the junction which he was 
about to make with Lepidus beyond the Po. Antonius 
himself was evincing the courage and fortitude under 
adverse circumstances, for which, voluptuary though he 
was, he obtained high credit among his countrymen. 
He was " a powerful example," says Plutarch " to his 
soldiers, for though he was fresh from the enjoyment of 
so much luxury and expense, he drank foul water with- 
out complaining, and ate wild fruits and roots." He in- 
duced them in their flight to feed with him on the bark 
of trees and on the flesh of strange animals. Fortune 
seconded his energy. Plancus terminated his long in- 
decision by throwing himself into the arms of the party 
which now, since the junction with Lepidus and the en- 
couragement shown by Octavius, was manifestly the 
stronger. Antonius found himself at the head of twenty- 
three legions. 

This was the dreadful fact to which the senate now 
awoke from their dream of easy triumph. While ex- 
pecting the arrival of Brutus and Cassius ^ 

^ • 1 1 1 1 Octavius 

with overwhelming armies, they had sought demands the 

, . 1 • J - consulship. 

to amuse their younger champion, and at Sepu 
the same time to corrupt his soldiers. Cicero **^' '^3- 
was himself prepared to cast away the broken instrument 
of his successful policy. The senate, which had pro- 
cured Octavius his election to the prsetorship, now re- 
fused him the dignity of consul. Four hundred of his 
veterans came in a body to Rome to press his claim. 
The senate still refused, and he crossed the Rubicon at 
the head of eight legions. The senate forbade him to 
approach within ninety miles of the city. At the same 
time, however, they yielded to his demand, and offered 
a donative to his soldiers. But it was now too late. The 
bold adventurer had determined on his course, and did 



198 The Roman Triwnvirafes. ch. x. 

not halt till he reached the gates. The.senators were 
appalled at this unlooked-for resolution. While putting 
forth a feeble show of defence, they slipped one by one 
into the intruder's camp. Cicero, indeed, was more con- 
stant than any ; but, he, too, yielded at last to the current, 
and presented himself before Octavius. H e was received 
with taunts for his slackness. His fears were awakened ; 
perhaps his conscience smote him. He mighr remember 
that he had himself urged with grim levity that the young 
candidate should be " smothered " with honors ; and the 
next night he made his escape. The people, hastily 
assembled, pretended to elect Octavius to the consulship, 
and gave him a kinsman, named Pedius, for his colleague. 
This was September 22 ; on the following day he com- 
pleted his twentieth year. The remnant of the senators — 
for many had disappeared — loaded him with flatteries 
and honors. They issued an empty command that 
Decimus should surrender to him his forces. Octavius 
directed the murderers of Caesar to be cited before the 
public tribunals. Judgment passed against them by de- 
fault, and they were interdicted fire and water. 

The helpless upstart of the year before was now 
actually at the head of affairs, and could offer his ow n 

terms to whichever of the contending parties 
Flight and j^g sliould clioosc for liis ally. While caus- 
Decimus ing the hasty decrees of the senate against 

Antonius and Lejjidus to be rescinded, he 
made them overtures which were readily accepted, 
placed between these two chiefs and their respective 
powers, abandoned by Plancus, receiving no support 
from Octavius and the government at Rome, Decinii s 
was lost. His troops, which had been easily levied, not 
less easily deserted him ; the old military devotion to the 
general was utterly forgotten, even among the followers 



B.C. 43. The Second Triumvirate. 199 

of a republican standard. With a few horsemen he at- 
tempted to break away into Macedonia, through the 
passes of the Rhaetian Alps ; but he was baffled by the 
mountaineers, and was delivered by a chief named 
Camelus into the hands of Antonius, by whom he was 
put to death. The blood of the tyrannicide cemented 
the alliance between the friend and the heir of the 
tyrant. 

Towards the end of October, the Caesarian leaders, 
Antonius, Lepidus, and Octavius, each at the head of 
independent if not of equal forces, met near 
Bononia, on an islet in the broad channel T?iumv*irrtl 
of a shallow stream called the Rhenus, and ^ *=■ 7"- 

B c. 43. 

there deliberated on the fate of the van- 
quished and the partition of the common spoil. It was 
arranged between them, after three days' parley, that 
Octavius should resign the consulship in favor of Ven- 
tidius, a rude but trusty officer of the Antonian army, 
while the three superior chiefs should reign in partner- 
ship together over the city, the consuls, and the laws. 
They claimed the " consular power," without the official 
title, in common for a period of five years, with the right 
of appointing to all the magistracies. Their decrees 
were to have the force of law, without requiring the con- 
firmation of the senate or the people. To this extraor- 
dinary commission, if we may so entitle a usurpation to 
which no other power but themselves was a party, they 
gave the name of a Triumvirate, or board of three, for 
constituting the commonwealth. The appointment of 
boards similarly designated for special purposes was an 
arrangement well known to the Roman constitution. The 
Quindecemvirs, the Septemvirs, and the Sevirs were each 
a permanent college for the discharge of certain sacred 
functions. The Decemvirs of famous memory had been 



200 The Roman Triinnvirates. CH. x. 

specially charged with the settlement of the civil law of 
the state, and with its temporary government while that 
settlement was pending. All of these had emanated 
directly from the suffrage of the people, and held their 
powers subject to the popular will. But the Triumvirate 
now established owned no such popular origin, and bore 
no such elective character. It was an open and wilful 
usurpation ; it was a " provisional government," as we 
might now call it, self-appointed in the first instance, 
standing upon its own basis, propped by an armed force, 
holding out, indeed, a prospect of self-surrender at some 
future time, but prepared meanwhile to assert its own 
arbitrary authority, and require universal obedience to 
it. The so-called Triumvirate of Caesar, Pompeius, and 
Crassus had made no such public or patent assertion of 
conjoint power. The earlier Triumvirs obtained the title 
rather as a nickname than as indicating an established 
fact. They held similar power to that of their succes- 
sors, but they put forth no actual profession of it. The 
idea of a Roman Tyranny had made great advances in 
the popular mind during the fifteen years which had in- 
tervened. It was the partition of absolute power be- 
tween three, instead of its concentration in the hands of 
a single chief, that constituted the only essential differ- 
ence between the despotism of the Triumvirs and the 
despotism of a king. The promise to resign the appoint- 
ment at the end of five years was perceived to be merely 
illusory; the only hope the citizens could entertain of its 
fulfilment lay in the dissension which might be expected 
to prevail between the three co-equal occupants. And 
so it was that the alliance of the Triumvirs came indeed 
to a rapid end ; but the end, as might have been equally 
well foreseen, was not the restoration of the popular gov- 
ernment, but the consolidation of an absolute monarchy. 



B.C. 43. P?'oclaviaiw]i of the Triumvirate. 201 

Meanwhile, according to the first partition made be- 
tween them, the two Gauls fell to Antonius, the Spains, 
with the Narbonensis, to Lepidus, Africa 
and the islands of Sicily and Sardinia to provinces 
Octavius. Italy itself, the seat of empire, ^y"0"g'.he 

■' ' r » iriumvirs. 

the three were to retain in common, while 
the eastern provinces, now held by Brutus and Cas- 
sius, they left for future division, when the enemy should 
be expelled from them. Against this enemy war was to 
be at once declared. Octavius and Antonius, each with 
twenty legions, charged themselves with the conduct of 
the war, and agreed to leave Lepidus, the least ambi- 
tious and least stirring of the confederates, but a man of 
high position, great wealth, and wide connections, to 
maintain their combined interest in the city. The 
swordsmen who followed them with no public or patrio- 
tic principles, were merely held together by the hopes of 
plunder, or at best by the military instinct of confidence 
in their leaders. Ample gratuities were poured into their 
hands, and estates assigned them from the lands of eigh- 
teen of the cities of Italy. The war was to be carried 
beyond the limits of the peninsula ; but it was the pe- 
ninsula itself which suffered the fi.rst and, perhaps, the 
worst effects of civil dissension. The troops, however, 
were satisfied with their share in the common compact, 
and insisted that it should be ratified by the espousal of 
Octavius to the daughter whom Fulvia had borne to her 
first husband, the tribune Clodius. 

The Triumvirs now addressed an order to Pedius at 
Rome for the slaughter of seventeen of their principal 
adversaries. The houses of these selected victims were 
attacked at night, and most of them had fallen before 
their condemnation was notified to the citizens. Pedius, 
a brave and honorable man, died from horror and dis- 



202 The Roman Ti'iuviviraies. - CH. x. 

gust at the crime he was imperiously required to exe- 
cute. Octavius, Antonius, and Lepidus then entered 
the city on three successive days, each attended by a 
single legion. The temples and towns were occupied 
by the troops ; the banners of the conquerors waved in 
the Forum, and cast their ominous shadow over the 
heads of the assembled citizens. A plebiscitum was re- 
quired to give a bare semblance of legality to an usurpa- 
tion which had been already effected. On 
^ov^27. November 27, the triumvirate was pro- 

claimed. The potentates about to quit Rome 
to combat the murderers of Caesar in the East would 
leave no enemies in their rear. They decreed, not a 
massacre, such as Sulla's, but a formal proscription. 
Sitting with a list of chief citizens before them, each 
picked out the names of the victims he per- 
tions. '^'^^^^"^ sonally required. Each purchased the right 
to proscribe a kinsman of his colleagues by 
surrendering one of his own. The fatal memorial was 
headed with the names of a brother of Lepidus, an uncle 
of Antonius, and a cousin of Octavius. Again were 
enacted the brutal scenes which closed the civil wars of 
the last generation. Centurions and soldiers were dis- 
patched in quest of the most important victims. The 
pursuit was joined by mercenary cut-throats and private 
enemies. Slaves attacked their masters, and debtors their 
creditors. The heads of the victims were affixed to the 
Rostra to certify the claims of the murderers, but the Tri- 
umvirs themselves did not always pause to identify them. 
The cold and unnatural cruelty of some of these as- 
sassinations has made them more peculiarly odious, 
Death of even amidst the many butcheries of the 

( iccro. Dec. 7, Roman civil wars. It would seem, how- 

B.C. 4J. 

ever, that the proscribed were not in all 



B.C. 42. The death of Cicero. 203 

cases hotly pursued. Many crossed the sea to Mace- 
donia, others into Africa ; still more took refuge on 
board the vessels with which Sextus Pompeius was cruis- 
ing off the coast of Italy. Some escaped by bribery 
when entreaty failed ; and Octavius seems in some cases 
to have set his own leniency in contrast with the more 
brutal ferocity of his associates. But Antonius had de- 
manded the death of Cicero, and Octavius, to the horror 
of all time, had consented. Nevertheless, some oppor- 
tunity was given even to Cicero to effect his escape, and 
he was not overtaken till a month later. Marcus C'cero 
was at the moment with his brother Ouintus at his Tus- 
culan villa. On the first rumor of the proscription they 
fled and gained Astura, another of the orator's resi- 
dences on a little island off Antium. From thence they 
proposed to embark for Macedonia. Quintus, indeed, 
was p'romptly seized and slain, but the surviving fugi- 
tive reached the sea, set sail, again landed, again em- 
barked, and landed once more at Formise, worn out 
with distress of mind, and suffering from sickness. In 
vain was he warned of the danger of delay. " Let me 
die," he exclaimed, "in my fatherland, which I have so 
often saved." But his slaves now lifted him with gentle 
violence into his litter, and hurried him towards the 
coast. Scarcely had the house been quitted when an 
officer named Popihus, a client, it was said, whose life 
Cicero had saved, approached and thundered at the 
closed doors. A traitor pointed out the direction which 
the fugitive had taken, and Cicero had not yet reached 
the beach when he saw the pursuers gaining upon him. 
His own party were numerous, and w'ould have fought 
in his defence, but he forbade them. He bade his slaves 
set down the litter, and with his eyes fixed steadily on 
his murderers, offered his throat to the sword. Some 



204 The Roman Triumvirates. CH. x. 

covered their faces with their hands, and their agitated 
leader drew his blade thrice across it before he could 
sever the head from the body. The bloody trophy was 
carried to Rome, and set up by Antonius in front of the 
Rostra. He openly exulted in the spectacle, and re- 
warded the assassins with profuse liberality. Fulvia, 
the wife of Antonius and the relict of Clodius, pierced, 
it is said, the tongue with a needle, in revenge for the 
sarcasms it had uttered against both her husbands. 

Tn the circumstances both of his life and death Cicero 

has been compared to Demosthenes. Each struggled 

for his country against an enemy and a 

Reflections -i i j i j 

on the death tyrant, and each was proscribed and hunted 
ofCi:ero. ^^ death for the eloquence with which he 

had assailed him. Each battled for a cause which was 
really hopeless ; for both Athens and Rome had forfeited 
the power of maintaining their own freedom, perhaps 
we may say the right to contend for it. But if the crimes 
of Roman society were more glaring than those of the 
Athenian, which was imbecile rather than furious, there 
were at least some great and noble characters in the 
senate who might dignify the struggle, however hopeless. 
Among the magnates of the city to whom Cicero intro- 
duces us in his letters and his speeches, there were men 
of virtue and honor, true lovers of their country, and ad- 
mirers of patriotism such as his own. They lacked, per- 
haps, the genuine devotion of the older days ; and, with 
the single exception, it may be said, of Cato, have left 
us no historic examples of public virtue. The best 
among them were no doubt most conscious of the false 
position in which they were placed by the corruption of 
their own adherents and the evil temper of the times; 
but the best of them were indeed among the weakest in 
character, and least capable of influencing the multitude 



B.C. 42. Triumph of Lepidus and Plancus. 205 

around them. Cicero himself was not, except once or 
twice, and for a moment only, a real power in the state. 
But he has left as statesman an example of sincere 
patriotism, to which the lovers of public virtue may 
always point with exultation. To the last he never 
deserted his place as a citizen. He has enriched human 
history with the portrait which the gods were said to ad- 
mire, of a good man struggling with adversity ; and the 
respect in which his own countrymen held him, both in 
his own time and in later generations, is a redeeming 
feature in the hard and selfish character of the Roman 
people. 

Such were the atrocities and horrors with which the 
year (b.c. 43) closed. Lepidus and Plancus, who next 
entered on the consulship, commanded the people, still 
full of dismay and mourning, to celebrate the commence- 
ment of their reign with mirth and festivity. They de- 
manded the honor of a triumph for victories, about 
which our annals are silent, in Gaul and ^ , 

Settlement 

Spain. Both the one and the other had of the 
sacrificed their own brother in the proscrip- gJveJIime^nt 
lion ; and when the fratricides passed along ^^ Rome, 
in their chariots, the soldiers, it is said, with 
the usual camp license, chanted, as they followed, " The 
consuls triumph, not over the Gauls, but the Germans," 
i. e. their brothers. The massacres had now ended, but 
a course of confiscation commenced. All the inhabitants 
of Rome and Italy were required to lend a tenth of their 
fortunes, and to give the whole of one year's income. 
The consuls proposed an oath to the citizens to maintain 
all Caesar's enactments, and they proceeded to accord 
to him divine honors, by an Oriental fiction unknown at 
least to the Romans since the legendary days of Romu- 
lus. The Triumvirs followed their hero's example in as- 



2o6 The Roman Triumvirates. ch. xi. 

signing all the chief magistracies for several years in 
advance. Octavius undertook to drive Sextus out of 
Sicily, where he had established himself under the pro- 
tection of a flotilla manned by pirates and adventurers ; 
but the passage of the narrow straits was too strictly 
guarded. Antonius crossed without delay to the coast 
of Epirus. 



CHAPTER XI. 



LAST EFFORT OF THE REPUBLICANS : THE BATTLE OF 

PHILIPPI. 

The conduct of the struggle which was now about to 
open, affords an instructive view of the condition of the 
Roman dominion in the last days of the victorious com- 
monwealth. We have seen the alacrity with which 
Cassius, the chief military leader of the republican par- 
ly, hastened to throw himself into the remote East and 
assume the government of the Syrian pro- 
dence of the . vince. He found himself there at the head 
fr^eTi-i of ^ large army, supported by levies from 

the East. many states and tributary potentates, sus- 

tained by the unbounded resources of the wealthiest re- 
gion of the known world, constituting an independent 
power but slightly connected in political feeling with 
Rome itself, and long disused to the restraints of civil 
law; an army encamped upon a subject territory on 
which it claimed to live at free quarters. The only rule 
which it acknowledged was that of its own commander, 
and this rule it obeyed only so far as he gratified its ap- 
petite for plunder and its ordinary contempt of discipline. 
The great army of the East would follow its leader to 



B.C. 42. The East Opposed to the West. 207 

any enterprise of conquest among the wealthy regions 
of Asia, but it did not care to cross the seas and en- 
counter the defenders of the poorer realms of Europe. 
It preferred the sack of cities and temples to an assign- 
ment of lands, and it was dimly conscious that on the 
soil of Italy its victories could not be crowned by the 
pillage of Rome, nor even that of Capua or Naples. 
The veterans of Sulla and Pompeius must be content, 
when they transferred themselves from the East to the 
shores of Italy, with the tardy acquisition of forfeited 
estates and the position of military colonists. Accord- 
ingly, the forces of Cassius were all-powerful at Antioch 
or Ephesus ; but they were of little avail for the recon- 
quest of the western world. 

Brutus, as we have seen, had been more loth to quit 
Rome. His patriotic spirit was attached, like that of 
Cicero, to the home and centre of his na- ^ 

Roman 

tion, and could ill brook the prospect of a society at 
long and, perhaps, a final separation from 
it. But he too, as a student of Hellenic culture, was at- 
tracted to the East, as far at least as Greece and Athens, 
by its scholastic associations ; cwid the command which 
he had secured for himself in Macedonia brought him 
into direct contact with the men of thought and learning 
who still congregated from all parts, and especially from 
Rome herself, in the schools of the Porch, the Garden, 
and the Academy. Athens was at this time much fre- 
quented by the young nobility of Italy ; many who came 
in their tender years for the purpose of study conceived 
a special attachment to the place, which weaned them 
from their own country, and made Greece a second 
home to them. The Romans in Greece constituted a 
provincial society which owned but a languid allegiance 
to their native city, and cared, perhaps, little for their 



2c8 The Roma7t Triumvirates. ch. xi. 

natural connection with it. Among the youthful students 
of the Athenian university, if we may so entitle it, Bru- 
tus enlisted many gallant spirits, such as the young poet 
Horace, who were fired by the name of liberty, but were 
more ready to defend themselves in their adopted coun- 
try against an invader from the West than to make any 
attempt to recover a footing on the shores which they 
had virtually abandoned. 

If we may compare this state of things with an in- 
stance from modern history, the Romans at this period 
in the East were in some marked respects not unlike the 
people of the Southern States of North 
pulsion "uttife America. Desirous as they were chiefly of 
West ^"^""^ ^^^ being left alone in the enjoyment of their 
peculiar advantages, the Romans of the 
West, like the northerners of the transatlantic conti- 
nent, would not suffer them to depart, being determined 
that the empire should not be divided, and that the 
wealthiest portion of their dominions should not be 
wrested from the common centre. Doubtless, if there 
was much patriotism in this determination, there was 
at the same time much*grecd of power. But so it was 
that the government installed at Rome would never con- 
sent to the separation of the East from the West. The 
CiEsarians would not suffer such a separation to be ef- 
fected by the Pompeians, who for their part might not 
be unwilling to acquiesce in it. The followers of the 
triumvirs would not concede it to the republicans, who, 
in their turn, would have made little effort to oppose 
it ; and again at the next turn of fortune to which we 
shall be directed we shall find the triumvir who is mas- 
ter of the West inexorable in his resolution to recover 
the eastern half of the empire from his rival beyond 
the yEgcan. It was, in fact, with Uie utmost difficulty 



B.C. 42. Meeting of Brutus and Cassius. 209 

that at three successive crises the unity of the whole 
unwieldy mass was preserved, and at last so firmly 
welded together by Augustus and Agrippa that it en- 
dured without a rapture, though not without some vio- 
lent shocks, for nearly four centuries. To the last, 
however, the union was mechanical, so to say, rather 
than organic. There was no community of interest, no 
homogeneous feeling ; no moral fusion between the East 
and the West ; the two hemispheres were maintained in 
political union only, as they had been first compacted, by 
the firm will and strong hand of Rome. 

The horrible condition to which the civil wars had re- 
duced the long flourishing communities of the East ap- 
pears in a way in which the Roman chiefs 
in that quarter were obliged to maintain BriTtus and 
their armies. As soon as Antonius threat- Sard's^ ^^ 
ened them with an attack, it became neces- 
sary to arm and move the vast hosts which could be 
easily raised to confront him, the most forcible mea- 
sures were demanded to supply the means required. Tliis 
want of means would have prevented any aggressive 
movement even had the liberators and those that followed 
them really cared to carry the war into Italy. But, in 
fact, they could not attempt to do so. The legionaries 
themselves might have refused to engage in a bloody 
and unprofitable campaign while the cities of the East 
offered them abundant gratifications. They found or 
provoked petty enemies around them, and compelled 
their chiefs to lead them against the Lycians, the Rho- 
dians, and the Cappadocians, either for pay or plunder. 
Brutus himself consented to the sack of Xanthus, where 
the wretched people threw themselves into the flames 
of their own city. Cassius wantonly attacked the great 
emporium 01 Rhodes, mulcted it of 8,500 talents, and en- 



2IO The Roman Triumvirates. ch. xi. 

forced the fine by cutting off the heads of fifty of its 
principal citizens. The whole province of Asia was sub- 
jected to the severest proscriptions of which these are per- 
haps only specimens. At last Brutus, hardly less guilty 
tlian his colleagues, but more sensitive to the sin and 
scandal, interfered to restrain such disgraceful cruelties. 
At Sardis, where the two proconsuls met to arrange their 
plan of operations, he sharply rebuked Cassius for 
bringing odium on their common cause; but Cassius 
pleaded his inability to restrain his mercenaries, and 
Brutus let the matter pass with a few unavailing mur- 
murs. 

The character of Brutus as a dreamy enthusiast is 
marked by the venerable legend of a terrible figure 
„, , , that appeared to him at night and an- 

The battle ^ ^ ^ , 

of Phiiippi, nounced itself as his evil demon, which 
B.C. 42. should present itself to him again at Phiiippi. 

^'^' ''"■ It was reported further that Brutus divulged 

the ominous vision to Cassius, the Epicurean, who ex- 
plained to him the reasoning by which his master in 
philosophy had demonstrated the vanity of apparitions. 
Nevertheless, the Stoic idealist continued anxious and 
dissatisfied. When at last the republican forces mus- 
tered in Macedonia, in the vicinity of Phiiippi, 100,000 
strong, and prepared to encounter the armies, still more 
numerous, of the triumvirs, the vision, it is said, re- 
curred ; the demon was faithful to his appointment. 
Never were men's eyes and ears more open to bodings 
of evil than at this disturbed crisis of human history. 
The ghosts of Marius and Sulla were supposed to have 
betokened the renewal of the civil wars. The disaster of 
Carrhae had been preceded by adverse omens. The 
battle of Pharsalia had been announced hundreds of 
miles away at the moment of the impious struggle. Pre- 



B.C. 42. Battle of Philippi. 211 

scges of dire significance had been noticed before that 
fell encounter ; similar intimations, it would seem, could 
not be wanting to the last fatal scene v/hich was now about 
to open. Brutus and Cassius posted themselves on two 
eminences about twelve miles east of Phiiippi, their left 
covered by the sea, from which they drew their supplies. 
Antonius placed his camp opposite to that of Cassius ; 
Octavius, on his left, faced the army of Brutus. Cassius, 
it is said, aware of the enemy's lack of provisions, v/ould 
have refrained from action ; but Brutus, ever fretful and 
impatient, overruled his wiser counsels. The contest 
between forces so numerous extended over a wide space, 
and was conducted with little mutual concert between 
the commanders on either side. Octavius was sick and 
could not take part in the encounter. More than once 
in the course of his career did he suffer these untoward 
hindrances, upon which his enemies did not fail to com- 
ment ; and now his division was overpowered and pre- 
cipitately pursued. Brutus believed the battle won ; but 
in the meanwhile Antonius had charged, with no less 
success, on the right ; Cassius had been driven from his 
camp, and descrying, when left almost alone, a body of 
horsemen advancing, had rashly concluded that they 
were enemies in pursuit, and had thrown 
himself upon the sword of a freedman . The Peath of 

J^ Cassius. 

scouts of Brutus, sent to advertise . him of 

his colleague's advantage, arrived a moment too late. 

The effect of this blunder was disastrous. Cassius 
had exercised some control over the soldiers, but Brutus 
was utterly powerless with them. In vain did 
he scatter all his treasures among them ; tau^e, and 
they called out the louder for more. In vain ^^^^'^ 
did he yield up his prisoners to their cruelty ; 
they grew even more vindictive and bloodthirsty. He 

P 



i>.i2 The Roman Triumvirates. ch. xi. 

was compelled to promise them the plunder of Thes- 
salonica in order to retain them yet awhile at his stand- 
ard ; for the Csesarians were reduced to great straits, 
and the dispersion of their fleet on the same day as the 
recent battle rendered their advanced position no longer 
tenable. Both the armies still kept the ground which 
they had before occupied. Twenty days after the first 
engagement Brutus was hurried into renewing it. The 
field was well contested ; the instinct of fighting was 
equally keen on both sides, though on neither was there 
any real principle at stake, nor any definite object in 
view. The Roman legionary had become nothing more 
than a gladiator, bold expert, and desperate. At the 
end of the day the Cassarians had broken the ranks of 
their adversaries, and Octavius assailed them in their 
camp. Brutus, with four legions kept a position through 
the night on the neighboring hills. The next day his 
men refused to fight, and he could only secure, with a 
few attendants, some hours of concealment, after which 
he terminated his life with a blow of his own sword, 
when none of them could be induced to do him the last 
faithful service. 

The cause of the republic is said to have perished on 
the field of Philippi; but, to speak truly, the republic 
The end of itself had, as we have seen, perished already, 
the Roman -p^-^g fragments of the broken party which 

republic. ^ r J 

had seemed to gather round it collapsed un- 
der this final blow. Many nobles and officers who sur- 
vived the carnage were captured in the flight, or surren- 
dered themselves to the victors, who treated them, 
strange to say, with distinguished clemency. A remnant 
was taken off by their own fleet, and sought refuge with 
Sextus at the head of his piratical armament. The 
Caesarian leaders had shown themselves abler than their 



B.C. 42. E7id of the Republic. 213 

opponents. A curse of weakness and barrenness seemed 
to cling to the murderers of the great dictator, who 
proved themselves incompetent throughout to originate 
any bold design, to overcome any difficulties, or to en- 
gender even the slightest enthusiasm for the phantom 
which they followed. Brutus, the best, but, perhaps, the 
weakest, of the whole crew, died muttering a spiritless 
verse which rails at virtue as an empty name and no 
better than a slave to fortune. If so it be, he should 
surely have bethought himself thereof before he gratified 
his spite or vanity by the crime of an assassination. Amidst 
the fury, indeed, of armed factions it was plain that the 
government of the world had passed out of the hands 
of contemplative and philosophic students, if such could 
have ever hoped to retain it. The strong man was the 
only man who could rule, and the strong man was more 
than ever necessary to prevent the world from sinking 
into anarchy. The true patriot at that moment would 
have hailed the advent of any ruler vigorous enough to 
control events, and might have forgiven him an act of 
usurpation in which lay the only chance of progress or 
at least of peace for the future. But the vain idea that 
the republic was possible now passed out of men's minds, 
never again to be revived, except casually and for a 
moment in the imagination of hot-headed and feeble 
enthusiasts. There yet remained a short struggle be- 
tween the personal claims of the foremost captains of 
the day; but the commonwealth in general might 
await with some calmness the issue, which could only 
be the establishment of a constituted government under 
the form of monarchy. From the republic to the em- 
pire might be a moral decline, but it was plainly both 
natural and inevitable. 



214 The Ro?nan Triumvirates. ch. xii. 



CHAPTER XII. 

CONTEST BETWEEN OCTAVIUS AND ANTONIUS — BATTLE 
OF ACTIUM — OCTAVIUS BECOMES MASTER OF THE 
STATE. 

The two triumvirs who had conducted the campaign 
against the common enemy paid little regard to the col- 
league whom they had left in empty state behind them. 
After Philippi they arranged a new division of the pro- 
vinces, Antonius taking Gaul and lUyricum, Octavius 
seizing upon Spain and Numidia, and retaining Italy 
with the Cisalpine in common between the two, while to 
Lepidus they gave at first no province at all, though at 
a later period they allowed him to hold the 
di"uioaof small but important district of Africa. This 
the pro- partition of the provinces seems to have 

vincts. . 

u.c. 712. been made in order to allow each chief to 

gratify his particular followers with subordi- 
nate appointments ; but the real distribution of power 
was of a different kind. Octavius returned to Rome and 
became at once supreme throughout the West, while 
Antonius preferred to remain in the opposite quarter, and 
reign over its wealthy regions and luxurious cities, which 
were all placed in subjection to liim. While Octavius 
devoted himself in Italy to the interests of his veterans, 
his colleague lavished upon himself and his parasites 
all the spoils he could accumulate. His arrival was 
everywhere regarded with the utmost dread by cities and- 
potentates, and his favor purchased by flatteries and 
presents. 



B.C. 42. Division of East and West. 215 

The clever and artful Cleopatra addressed him, how- 
ever, in another fashion. The death of her admirer, 
Caesar, exposed her to imminent perils at 

,.,,. .,. .- .T rieopatra's 

Alexandria, botn from withm and from with- conque-t of 
out. It was essential to her security to gain ^ntomus. 
the protection of the new ruler of the East. Antonius 
had seen her in the train of his master, and even then, 
no doubt, he had been struck by her showy fascinations. 
She had returned to Egypt to secure her throne there ; but 
he now required her to meet him in Cilicia, and answer 
for some imputed intrigues with his enemy Cassius. The 
queen was confident in her charms, which had already 
proved so powerful. Instead of appearing herself as a 
suppliant, she meant to bring him on his knees before 
her ; and she succeeded. Steering for Tarsus for the 
interview demanded of her, she sailed up the Cydnus in 
a gilded vessel, with purple sails and silver oars, to the 
sound of Oriental music. She was seen reclining under 
a spangled canopy in the garb of Venus, surrounded by 
Cupids, Graces, and Nereids. Antonius himself had 
jovially assumed the attributes of Bacchus. The asto- 
nished natives hailed the happy conjunction of the two 
most genial of their divinities. Dazzled by her splendid 
equipage, he invited her to land and sit at banquet with 
him ; but she haughtily replied that he must come and 
attend upon herself. The first interview sealed his fate. 
For the rude triumvir, more of a gladiator than a states- 
man, Cleopatra discarded the Grecian elegance of man- 
ners which had charmed the polished dictator ; she sat 
through his tipsy orgies, laughed at his camp jokes, de- 
lighted him with her own saucy sallies, and so main- 
tained the hold which she at once acquired over him, 
till she first ruined and finally betrayed him. 

While, however, Antonius was forgetting wife and 



2i6 TJie Roman Triumvirates. CH. xii. 

country, and postponing the war announced against the 

Parthians for the sake of his new plaything, 

War of j^is brother Lucius had joined with Fulvia 

Pcrusia. 

in a wanton attack upon Octavius in Italy. 
Lucius Antonius and Servilius had occupied the consul- 
ship for the year 41. Fulvia, daring and ambitious, 
1 uled them both, while the indolent Lepidus fell alto- 
gjther under eclipse. The return of Octavius sur- 
prised and alarmed the guilty confederates. Fulvia was 
irritated by his dismissal of her daughter Claudia, whom 
he had but just wedded to satisfy the soldiers. She was 
mortified also at her husband's desertion, and hoped to 
tear him away from Alexandria by raising commotions 
at home. With these views she fomented the discontent 
of the Italian proprietors, whose lands Octavius had as- 
signed to his veterans, many of whom had already seized 
their arms to defend themselves, while the veterans 
themselves were murmuring at the discontent which 
their victims so naturally manifested. The young trium- 
vir was reduced to great straits. He exerted himself to 
pacify his followers with fresh confiscations ; but his 
friend, M. Agrippa, shut up Lucius in Perusia, and at 

last reduced him to capitulation by stress of 
"^- 713- huncrer. It is said that Octavius caused ^00 

B C. 41. ' • ^ 

knights and senators to be sacrificed to the 
shade of his father; but the story of the Ara PeriisincE 
seems little credible, though doubtless his brutal soldiery 
thirsted for blood, and perhaps he gratified them too 
largely. We learn, however, that at all events he spared 
L. Antonius, and even gave him an appointment in 
Spain. 

Antonius was now roused to exertion, and for a mo- 
ment he broke away from the toils of his Egyptian para- 
mour. He sent his lieutenant, Vcntidius, to make head 



B.C. 40. Third partition of the empire, 217 

against the Parthian s, whose hostility, ever 
ready to kindle in arms, he had already tition'^of the" 
challenged ; but he shaped his own course ^"^P''^^- 
for the West. At Athens he met his consort, Fulvia, 
who upbraided him with his long abandonment of wife 
and frien is ; but as he was exerting himself just then to 
repair his error, the rebuke was at least unseasonable, 
and his resentment seems to have crushed her spirit and 
hastened her end, which quickly followed. Reheved 
from this domestic embarrassment, he led his active 
squadrons to the coast of the Adriatic. There he made 
a compact with Sextus Pompeius, and got himself trans- 
ported across the straits; but the plunder which he 
seems to have allowed raised the indignation of Italy 
and Rome, which had learnt to regard him as a foreign 
invader. In Sextus, his base associate, they had long 
ceased to recognize the son of their ancient favorite. 
The prince of the pirates had renounced, it was reported, 
the manners and principles of his countrymen, had af- 
fected to be the son of Neptune, and had actually for- 
gotten the Latin language. Accordingly, when Octavius 
drew his sword to resist this invasion, the sympathie'^? of 
the people were enlisted warmly on his side as the 
champion of the senate, the people, and the national 
divinities. The soldiers, however, were at this moment 
stronger than the people, and disposed of their chiefs at 
their will. They now compelled the two rival leaders to 
treat. A fresh partition of the. Empire gave the East to 
Antonius, from the Adriatic to the Euphrates, where he 
was charged to control the Parthians ; the West to Octa- 
vius, with the conduct of the war against Sextus. Africa 
was abandoned to Lepidus. Octavia, the 
sister of the young Caesar, recently left a b!c!4o. ' 

widow by Marccllus, married the widower 



2i8 The Roman Triufnvirates. CH. xii. 

Antonius. The rivals, thus outwardly reunited, hastened 
to Rome together, and celebrated their alliance with 
much hollow rejoicing. 

The treaty of Brundisium gave to each of the two 

contracting parties a new start in power, but it put no 

check upon their rivalry. The final issue of the long 

struggle between them, thus carefully balanced, must 

depend upon personal ability and fortune. 

The triumvirs . • i i 

cjncert terras The popularity which the younger had 

with Sextns , , . i ■, • j /• 

and aga'ii re- already acquu-ed gave him a ground ot 
sort to arms vantag;e : but he had three arduous tasks 

against him. » ' 

before him — to iceep Rome and Italy con- 
tented, to contend at the same time by sea against the 
resources and skill of Sextus, and to maintain by con- 
stant exercise the courage and ardor of his soldiers. In 
the first of these undertakings he was ably seconded by 
Cilnius Maecenas, whom he made his chief administra- 
tor at home ; who soothed rival ambitions in the senate 
and the forum, and pacified the murmurs of the dispos- 
sessed proprietors throughout the peninsula. His next 
endeavor was to come to terms with Sextus, with whom 
he had connected himself by an opportune marriage 
with his sister Scribonia. The son of the great Pompeius 
was now invited to confer with the triumvirs at Mise- 
num, and the islands of Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica 
were assigned to him as his share of empire. The allied 

potentates entertained one another at ban- 
lie! 39!" quets in a vessel riding at sea, but moored 

to the land for the equal security of all ; 
and Sextus gallantly declined, though not without an 
effort, to let his bold lieutenant, Maenas, cut the cable 
and carry off his rivals with him. But when he refused 
to restore some places he had taken on the coast of 
Italy, the western triumvir took up arms against him. 



B.C. 36. Renewal of the Triumvirate. 219 

In his naval enterprises Octavius was well supported by 
his friend Agrippa, who constructed the Julian port, on 
the Campanian coast, employed one year in equipping 
a powerful fleet, and, after some misadventures, effected 
his enemy's complete overthrow in the sea- 
fight of Naulochus, off the coast of Sicily. £"1,1°^ ^^''' 
Sextus fled in confusion to the East, and ^'^ ^i?- 

B.C. 37. 

was speedily crushed by Antonius, to whom 
he vainly looked for protection. Octavius had already 
repudiated Scribonia, and allied himself with the great 
houses of the republic by a curious love-marriage with 
Livia, divorced for his sake by her husband, Tiberius 
Claudius Nero. 

The term prescribed for the triumvirate had expired 
on the last day of the year 38, but there had been many 
precedents for the protraction of such irre- 
gular powers, and the three colleagues were ^fum^jfate*^ 
on sufficiently good terms with one another "c- 717- 

. B-C- 37- 

to agree to a renewal of their compact for 
another period of five years. The senate and the people 
submitted without an audible murmur to a tyranny 
which was now more autocratic than ever. Such, it 
seems, was the result of a meeting of Octavius and An- 
tonius at Tarentum, in which they pretended to main- 
tain a cordial alliance between themselves, while they 
retained their superiority over their feeble colleague. 

When Lepidus ventured at last to turn against the 
ruler of the West, Octavius easily put down so feeble a 
pretender, and spared the life of a magnate 
illustrious from his birth and from the b.c' 36.^'"''^"' 
dignity which he held of chief pontiff. The 
younger C^sar had now learnt from the elder the policy 
of clemency, which he continued to practise to the end 
of his long career. He was cementing his power and 



2 20 The Roman Triumvirates. CH. xii. 

popularity in every direction, with a view, no doubt, to 
the final struggle which he knew to be impending ; and 
his last efforts were directed to keeping his troops in 
training by campaigns against the barbarians in Dalma- 
tia, where neither spoil nor glory was to be acquired, 
but which now presented the only field for the arms of a 
western imperator. 

On the other hand, a great sphere was open to the 
martial enterprise of the triumvir in the East. Antonius 
had acted loyally towards his colleague in supplying 
him with vessels for his contest with Sextus ; at the same 
time he had required from him a contingent 
Disastrous q{ 2o,ooo men for the expedition which he 

campaign of i • i t-> 

Antonius was preparing to conduct agamst the Par- 

P.rthinn-:. thians. Havmg secured this succor how- 

!!'^' V^' ever, he did not scruple to abandon the 

sister of Octavius, whom he had so recently 
espoused as a pledge of constant alliance, and rushed 
again into the toils of Cleopatra, with whom he indulged 
in sport and revelry till his armaments were completed. 
About mid-summer of the year B.C. 36, he had assem- 
bled 100,000 men on the Euphrates to follow up the par- 
tial successes of Ventidius. He had, indeed, delayed 
the advance too long ; and from the haste with which 
he now moved he suffered his machines to fall into the 
r^ar, so that when he reached Praaspa, 300 miles beyond 
the Tigris, unopposed, he found himself destitute of the 
means for besieging a strong and well-defended city. 
An attempt to reduce it by blockade was baffled by the 
setting in of the cold season in the lofty regions into 
which he had unwarily plunged. He retreated, and 
suffered in his retreats hardships almost unparalleled, 
such as those which attended the flight of Napoleon 
from Moscow. On his crossing the A raxes, however, 



B.C. 36. Campaigns of Antonius in the East. 221 

the Parthians at length desisted from their pursuit ; but 
still intent on regaining the festive halls of Alexandria 
he hurried his weary soldiers along with great distress 
and loss. He rejoined the queen in Syria, whither she 
had advanced to meet him, and returned with her, de- 
feated but unabashed, to the delights of her court in Egypt. 
So miserable a retreat after so rash an advance could 
ba regarded only as a grave disaster. The base triumvir 
chose, however, to announce himself as a conqueror. 
Octavius did not care to contest his claim, and still af- 
fected to maintain a cordial understanding with him. 
Antonius had quitted Alexandria, bent upon another 
campaign in the East. Octavia, sent with 
specious compliments by her brother, had rupture '"^ 
pfone forward to meet him, brinc^^ing with between the 

° ' o o triumvirs. 

her some picked battalions, well armed and 
clothed, with other valuable equipments for his army. 
She hoped even now to win him away from 
his disgraceful amour with the foreigner. ^•^- 7i9- 

Cleopatra was on the watch to baffle her en- 
deavors. The queen soon succeeded in luring her lover 
back to Egypt ; Octavia returned with dignity to Rome, 
at last abandoning her reckless lord to the fate which he 
merited. Antonius grew more and more insensible to 
the opinions of his countrymen. In the year following 
(B.C. 34) he made some inroads into Armenia, picked a 
quarrel with the king, Artavasdes, and carried him, 
loaded with golden chains, to Alexandria. For these 
successes he awarded himself a triumph, 
which he celebrated, to the disgust of all b.c.37° 
Roman citizens, in the streets of his barbaric 
capital. 

The first months of the year 33 were passed at Alex- 
•^ndria amidst licentious orgies, the rumor of which 



222 The Roman Triu7?iviraies CH. xil. 

caused much resentment at Rome, where 
amuses"^ they wcrc no doubt depicted in the darkest 

himself at colors. The aim of Cleopatra, it vvas ur^ed. 

Alexandria. • r » t. » 

u.c. 721. was to wean the Roman imperator from his 

■ ^^' national ideas ; to make him a foreigner 

and an Egyptian hke herself; to render it impossible for 
him to show himself again in Rome. This she might, 
perhaps, easily effect; but it was more difficult for her to 
keep the idle voluptuary constantly occupied and con- 
stantly amused. Her personal qualities were of the 
most varied kind, and such as we might suppose would 
have been lost upon a coarse debauchee like Antonius. 
She was an admirable singer and musician : she was 
skilled in many languages and possessed of high intel- 
lectual gifts, in addition to the lighter artifices of her sex. 
She pampered her lover's appetites and stimulated his 
flagging interest with ingenious surprises and playful rid- 
icule, sending divers, as we read, to fasten a salted fish 
to the bait of his angling rod, and dissolving in a cup of 
vinegar a pearl of inestimable value. Painters and 
sculptors were charged to group the illustrious pair to- 
gether, and the coins of the realm represented the effi- 
gies of the two conjointly. The Roman legionary bore 
the name of Cleopatra on his shield, like a Macedonian 
body-guard. Masques were represented at court, in 
which the versatile Plancus sank into the character of a 
stage buffoon, and enacted the part of the ^ea-god Glau 
cus, while the princely lovers arrayed themselves as the 
native divinities Isis and Osirio. 

Meanwhile the senate had decreed Octavius a legiti- 

t^ons for' mate triumph for his successes over the Li- 

striiggie. burni and lapydes. He had sustained an 

B.C." 3V' honorable wound, and had recovered his 

reputation for personal courage, on which 



B.C. 32. Preparations for Civil War. 223 

some slur had been cast by his unseasonable sicknesses. 
But the youthful hero was not impatient for the celebra- 
tion of his victory, and deferred the solemnity, while he 
kept the city in intense expectation of a national crisis 
by upbraiding Antonius with his foreign connection, and 
pointing to him as an enemy to the commonwealth. An- 
tonius, on his pait, had charges also to make against his 
colleague. These were personal indeed rather than pa- 
triotic. He complained that hib just share of the spoils 
of Lepidus had been withheld from him ; but such a com- 
plaint met with no response from the senate and people, 
and Octavius could well afford to disregard it. The East- 
ern chief began now to prepare in earnest for a final 
struggle. He had been collecting troops for another 
attack upon the Parthians. Towards the end of 33 B.C. 
he directed his forces westward, appointing Ephesus for 
the rendezvous of the contingents from many provinces 
and nations which he summoned to his standards. Greeks, 
Asiatics, and Africans found themselves arrayed around 
him. Cleopatra appeared herself at the head of the 
great Egyptian navy. Her galleys were renowned for 
their size and splendid equipment, and combined with the 
resources of the eastern Mediterranean to form the 
largest armament that had ever been launched on its 
waters, at least since the time of Xerxes. 

The consuls for the year 32 were Domitius Ahenobar- 
bus and Sosius. both of them adherents of Antonius, 
who had received their office according to the agreement 
then still existing between him and his colleague. But 
this advantage was balanced by the defection of some 
of his chief supporters. Plancus, who had consented to 
degrade himself for the amusement of his patron's court, 
now reappeared in the senate and denounced his trea- 
chery and frivolity. This man betrayed to Octavius the 



2 24 The Roman Triumvirates. ch. xii. 



The trium- testament of the renegade imperator, which 

pires\nd is he had been charged to deposit with the 

newed. vestal virgins, and in which, it seems, An- 

u.c. 722. tonius had acknowledged the vahdity of 

B.C. 32. . 

Caesar's odious union with the foreigner, had 
declared her child Caesario to be the dictator's legitimate 
son, had confirmed his own donations of crowns and 
provinces to his bastards, and, finally, had directed that 
his own body should be entombed by the side of Cleo- 
patra's in the mausoleum of the Ptolemies. None could 
now doubt the rumors which prevailed, that he had 
pledged the queen in his cups to remove the govern- 
ment of the world to Alexandria, and prostrate the gods 
of the Capitol before the monstrous deities of the Nile. 
Octavius was at once greeted as the true champion of 
the nation, the maintainer of its principles and its faith. 
The consuls hurried away from the city, in which they 
found themselves ill at ease. Octavius, still moderate, 
still politic, refrained from declaring the impious chief 
a public enemy. He was content with proclaiming war 
against Egypt. The second term of the triumvirate had 
expired, and he did not renew it. He directed the 
senate to annul the appointment of Antonius to the next 
consulship, and assumed it himself with Messala for the 
year 31. 

Even the handful of nobles who repaired at this crisis 
to the side of Antonius, now urged him to dismiss Cleo- 
patra, and reduce the impending struggle to a personal 
contest with his rival. He replied by formally divorcing 
his legitimate consort, and thus breaking the last legal 
tie that bound him to his country. He had now as- 
sembled 100,000 foot and 12,000 horse. The kings of 
Mauretania, of Commagene, Paphlagonia, and Cilicia 
followed his banners. His fleet counted 500 large war- 



B.C. 31- Position of Antonius. 225 

galleys, some of them with eight or even ten 
banks of oars. The forces of Octavius were assembled 
somewhat inferior by land ; his vessels were °" ^^- ^^^'^^ 
much fewer in number, but of a lighter and "-c- 723- 
more manageable class. Antonius adopted 
Patrse, in the Peloponnesus, for his winter quarters, while 
he disposed of his vast armies, for their better support, 
along the coast of Epirus. But his navy suffered from 
sickness, and Agrippa contrived to throw the Caesarian 
forces across the Adriatic. From that moment defection 
commenced. Domitius was the first to abscond ; many 
princes of Asia followed his example. Antonius fancied 
himself surrounded by traitors ; he distrusted even Cleo- 
patra, and required her to taste, in his company, all the 
viands that were set before him. 

Some partial engagements first took place at sea, in 
which Agrippa's skill gained the advantage. Antonius 
was quickly discouraged. He would have 
withdrawn his land forces further into the Actium 

interior; but Cleopatra, fearing for her own b c' 31?* 

retreat, dissuaded him from this project. A (Sept. 2) 

strange story is related that he sent Octavius a challenge 
to single combat, which was scornfully rejected. There- 
upon he made preparations for flight, and determined to 
lead a general attack on the Caesarian fleet, with no hope 
of victory, but merely to gain an opportunity of escape. 
For several days the agitation of the sea would not allow 
either armament to move. At last, on September 2, the 
wind fell, the waters became smoother, and with the rise 
of a gentle breeze the Antonian galleys made for the open 
sea. Their huge hulks were ill-adapted for manoeuvering, 
but they hurled massive stones from their wooden towers, 
and thrust forth ponderous irons to grapple the unwary 
assailant. The light triremes of Octavius were, on the 



2 26 The Roman Triumvirates. ch. xii. 

other hand, both dexterous and agile. Their well-trained 
rowers bore up or backed with rapidity, and swept 
away the banks of the enemy's oars under cover of a 
shower of arrows. The combat was animated but inde- 
cisive ; but while the Antonian barges rolled heavily on 
the water, incapable of attacking their puny assailants, 
suddenly Cleopatra's galley, moored in the rear, hoisted 
sail, and threaded the maze of combatants, followed by 
the Egyptian squadron of sixty vessels. Antonius was 
not unprepared for the signal. He leapt into a boat and 
hastened after her. The rage and shame of his adherents 
filled them with despair. Many tore down their turrets 
and threw them into the sea, to lighten their decks for 
flight ; yet many continued to fight recklessly or blindly. 
Too lofty to be scaled, too powerful to be run down, 
their huge vessels were at last destroyed by fire. Three 
hundred of them had been captured ; few probably 
escaped. The land forces refused for a time to believe in 
their leader's ignominy, and might, perhaps, have still 
maintained their position; but when their commander, 
Canidius, abandoned the camp for the Caesarian quar- 
ters, they offered no further resistance. 

So complete a victory as that of Actium has seldom 

been so easily gained. Tiie accounts we have received 

of the conduct of the miserable Antonius 

seafr'es'the come, HO doubt, from the side of the vic- 

fruitsufhis ^Qrs ; but it is impossible to suppose that he 

victory. ' ^ ^~ 

lost SO great a fleet and army so utterly, ex- 
cept by his own misconduct. Octavius might now feel 
himself secure, and proceed to establish his triumphant 
position with full deliberation. He sent Maecenas and 
Agrippa to Italy, the one to govern the city, the other 
to control the legions in his absence ; while he advanced 
in person into Greece, and thence into Asia, receiving 



B.C. 30- Six Months' Respite at Alexandria. 227 

on all sides the greetings of the people, and making ar- 
rangements for their future government. He returned 
to Italy in the course of the ensuing winter. 
Knights and senators, together with multi- ^^'11^' 
tudes of citizens, came as far as Brundisium 
to meet him. He listened graciously to the complaints 
of his veterans, sold his own effects and those of his 
nearest friends to satisfy them, planted new colonies in 
the lands of conquered cities, and finally promised an 
ample donative from the anticipated spoil of Egypt. 
With the beginning of spring, B.C. 30, he was again in a 
condition to follow the track of the fugitives. 

To them six months' respite had been granted. We 
can hardly suppose that the court of Alexandria, even 
though swayed by the vigorous arras of a ^ . , 

^ ■' . -^ ^ Despair of 

great Roman imperator, could present any Antonius 
effective resistance to the whole power of patraat ' 
Rome, if once brought to bear against it. -Alexandria. 
Yet Egypt abounded in wealth ; she was the emporium 
of the immense trade which converged thither from both 
the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean ; she was one 
of the principal granaries of Rome and Italy ; though her 
native population was feeble and unwarlike she could 
purchase the swords of the mercenary soldiers who 
swarmed on every side; her rulers were skilled in state- 
craft, and could intrigue at least with all the discontented 
rulers and peoples, to whom their enforced submission 
to the great republic was ever odious. We cannot but 
think that chiefs of real spirit and resolution might have 
defended themselves under such circumstances against 
any power that could be arrayed against them. But it 
was not so. Antonius and Cleopatra traversed the sea 
in the same vessel. The Roman landed at Parsetonium 
to secure the small garrison of the place; the Egyptian 

Q 



2 28 TJie Roman TriutJivirates. CH. xil. 

entered the port of Alexandria with laurels displayed on 
her deck for fear of the tumult which the sudden news 
of her disaster might awaken. There was neither love 
nor obedience awaiting her in her own capital. Her 
power rested on no popular foundation, and of this, she, 
as the descendant of a long line of foreign potentates, 
was no doubt well aware. Antonius himself was re- 
pulsed by a handful of Roman soldiers. The only relief 
for the despair which he began to entertain might be de- 
rived from the devotion, fruitless though it was, of a 
small band of gladiators who made their way through 
Asia and Syria to join him, and only yielded to Herod, 
king of Judaea, on the false assurance of their patron's 
death. Then it was that Cleopatra proposed to flee into 
Arabia ; but her vessels were destroyed by the wild in- 
habitants of the Red Sea coast. Again the wretched 
pair contemplated an attempt to escape into Spain ; any 
quarter of the world seemed to them, in their cowardly 
distress, securer than their own dominion. When this 
scheme, too, was relinquished, Antonius shut himself up 
in a solitary tower. Cleopatra made show at least of 
greater resolution, and presented herself to the people in 
military costume, as if to animate them to resistance, 
but in private she abandoned herself together with her 
lover, who had crept back to her embraces, to her ac- 
customed orgies, while she made experiments with va- 
rious kinds of poison, and ascertained, it was said, that 
the most painless of deaths is tlxat which follows on the 
bite of the asp. 

The two helpless associates were not even true to one 
another. Each began to negotiate separately with the 
Antonius killa victor. To Antonius no answer was vouch- 
himsdf safed ; better hopes were held out to Cleo- 

patra if she would turn against her paramour. Octavius, 



B.C. 30. Death of Antonius. 229 

ever cautious, even when the game was in his hands, 
and anxious to secure her person to embellish his future 
triumphs, continued to amuse and deceive her. He al- 
lowed his agents to remind her of his youth and of her 
own well-tried fascinations. When Antonius gained a 
trifling but useless advantage over the first battalion 
which the enemy threw on his shore, she deemed the 
time come to separate her interests from his, and trea- 
cherously induced his ships to abandon him. At the 
same moment, and perhaps through the same treachery, 
the last of his cohorts deserted him. The queen had 
shut herself up in a tower constructed for her mauso- 
leum. Fearing the violence of the man she had ruined, 
she caused him to be assured that she had killed herself. 
With the infatuated renegade all was now over, and he 
determined himself to die. With the aid of his freed- 
man, Eros, he gave himself a mortal wound ; but while 
yet living he learnt that she, too, still survived, and caus- 
ing himself thereupon to be brought to the foot of her 
tower, he was drawn up to her by her women, and there 
expired in her arms. 

Octavius at the same moment entered Alexandria. 
He charged an officer to secure the queen ahve. Cleo- 
patra refused him admittance ; when he scaled her 
chamber she pretended to stab herself; he seized her 
arm and assured her of his master's kind- Dp^th of 
ness. At length she suffered herself to be Cleopatra. 
removed to the palace, and there awaited an interview 
with the conqueror, prepared to exert all her charms 
upon him, with the bust of Caesar presented to his view, 
but the attempted seduction proved fruitless, as might 
have been expected. Octavius kept, indeed, his eyes on 
the ground, but he never lost his coolness and self-pos- 
session. While she was flattering and caressing him, 



230 The Roman Triumvirates. CH. xil. 

he coldly demanded a list of her treasures, which he re- 
quired to be surrendered ; but for herself he bade her 
be of good courage, and trust to his magnanimity. Cleo- 
patra was soon made to understand that though her hfe 
should be spared, she would be removed to Rome and 
exhibited in the conqueror's triumph. She resolved to 
die. Retiring to the mausoleum where lay the body of 
Antonius, she crowned his bier with flowers, and w^as 
found the next morning dead on her couch, her two wo- 
men weeping beside her. "Is this well?" exclaimed 
the dismayed emissary of Octavius. " It is well," re- 
plied Charmion, " and worthy of the daughter of kings.'' 
The manner of her death was never certainly known. 
At the triumph, thus deprived of the ornament of her 
living presence her image was carried on a bier, the 
arms encircled by two serpents, w^hich served to confirm 
the rumor that she had perished by the bite of an asp, 
brought to her, as was reported, in a basket of figs. The 
child of the foreign woman by Julius Caesar was cruelly 
put to death, to appease the exaggerated or pretended 
sentiments of Roman nationality ; while the offspring 
of Antonius and the matron Fulvia was suffered to sur- 
vive and retain his birthright as a citizen. The dynasty 
of the Ptolemies ceased to reign. The Macedonian con- 
quest was replaced by the Roman, and Egypt was finally 
reduced to the condition of a province. Octavius was 
master of the commonwealth, and became the founder 
of an empire. 

Between these two results there is a great difference 
to be noted. Marius and Pompeius had both been vir- 
tually masters of the commonwealth before 
S'marks!"^ Octavius ; Sulla and Caesar had been so 
actually, and had been confirmed as such 
by legal appointment. The first Triumvirate had domi- 



B.C. 30. Octavius founds the Empire. 231 

riated over it ; the second had extorted from it supreme 
authority, and had demanded a renewal of its powers as 
long as its members could keep on terms of alliance one 
with another. The commonwealth had fallen under a 
succession of masters, and if from time to time it re- 
covered a momentary independence, it was only by a 
fitful struggle, which showed its own intrinsic weakness 
and inability to rule itself. Rome might have fallen 
again and again into the hands of other masters, each 
wresting the sovereignty from his predecessor by force, 
and each yielding it in turn to a stronger successor. 
The body politic might have been torn in pieces, and 
either have been split into a number of states or perished 
in anarchy altogether. The barbarians of the Rhine and 
the Danube might have arrived three centuries before 
their time. But it was not to be so. Octavius founded 
an empire. Every age may produce many men who can 
destroy an empire, but rarely is the man born who can 
found one. It was the singular fortune of Rome — rather 
let us say, it was the special Providence which presides 
over all human history — that presented mankind, at this 
most critical epoch of their career, with the individual 
man who could actually perform the work required for 
the maintenance of the ancient civilization. In the 
overthrow of the so-called Roman liberty there is doubt- 
less something to regret, but surely not much ; for Roman 
liberty was little else than general servitude. In the 
violence and selfishness by which this overthrow was 
effected there is much which the moralist may be called 
upon to denounce, though, in view of the vastness of the 
issue involved, the historian will hardly pause to weigh 
nicely in the balance the crimes of one or other of the 
actors in the shifting scenes before him. The defects 
and sins of the empire which followed may be estimated 



232 The Roman Triumvirates. ch. xii. 

by those who undertake specially to describe it ; but the 
moral to be drawn from the epoch before us is simply 
this, that Rome had reached the moment when she could 
no longer retain her political liberty, and that the 
struggles of her Triumvirates could only end either in 
anarchy or in monarchy. 



Chronological table. 



u.c. 676. ) ., / I M' ^MIHUS Lepidus, 

B.C. 78. J ^"^^^^ \ Q. LUTATIUS CATULUS, 

Death of Sulla. P. Servilius (consul 675) attacks the Cilician 
pirates. Progress of the war with Sertorius. The consul Lepidus 
conspires against the ruling party in the state. 



^77- 1 /- / J ^- Junius Brutus. 
77. J ^^^^^^^ \ M. JEmilius Lepii 



u.c. 

B.C. 77. J" '-'"'""" I m.JEmilius Lepidus. 

Overthrow of M. Lepidus (consul 676), Pompeius sent against 

Sertorius. 



U.C. 678. \ ^ . f Cn. Octavius. 
B.C. 76. 1 ^'^'"^^•^ ( c. ScRiBONius Curio. 
Continuation of war with Sertorius. Sicinius fails in attempting 
to restore the Tribunician power. 



U.c, 

B.C. 



679. "I -. / J L. OCTAvfus. 
75. J ^^'^■^^^•^ I C. AURELIUS Cotta. 



Progress of the war with Sertorius. Servilius subdues the 
Isaurians. Cicero quasstor in Sicily. 



\ ^ / J L. LiCINIUS LUCULLUS. 

J ^^"-^^^^^ \ M. AURELIUS COTTA. 



U.C. 680. 
B.C. 74. 

War with Sertorius. He refuses an alliance with Mithridates. 
Further attempt to rescind the Cornelian laws of Sulla. 



2 34 Chronological Table, 

!i. ] ^ , f M. Terf.ntius Vaf 
.3. j ^^'''''^' \ C. Cassius Varus. 



.u c. 681. ] ^ ,. f M. Terf.ntius Varro. 

B.C. 73. 

War with Sertorius. Mithridates defeated at Cyzicus by Lu- 
cullus. Insurrection of the gladiators under Spartacus. 



u c. 682. 1 ^ / / L. Gellius Poplicola. 
B.C. 72.] ^^'^ I Cn. Cornelius Lentulus. 

Sertorius assassinated, and the war brought to an end. Lu- 
cullus besieges Amisus. The consuls defeated by Spartacus, 



u.c. 683. \ r / I P- Cornelius Lentulus. 
B.C. 71. I ^'"^■^"" 1 Cn. AuFiDius Orestes. 



Spartacus overthrown by Crassus. Progress of the Mithridatic 
war. Pompeius and Metellus triumph over Spain. 



^ , 1 Cn. Pompeius Magnus. 

Consuls 



u.c. 684. I '-'^'""" I M. LiciNius Crassus Dives. 
B.C. 70. r ^ f L. Gellius Poplicola. 

) (censors | ^^^ CORNELIUS LeNTULUS. 

Lucullus occupied with the internal administration of Asia 
Minor. The consuls restore the Tribunician power (lex Pompeia 
tribunicia). The Judicia are restored to the knights (lex Aurelia 
judiciaria). The process against Verres. Birth of the poet Virgil. 



uc 68=;) TQ. Hortenstus. 

B*c* 6q [ ^^^^"^^ \ Q- C-«ciLius Metellus 
* * ^' ■' i (Creticus). 

Lucullus makes war on Tigranes, king of Armenia. Catulus 
dedicates the temple of Jupiter. Capitolinus restored after the 
conflagration. U. C. 671. Cicero aedile. 



Yr ^11' \ Consuls \ J^- C^xiLius Metellus. 
B.C. 68. J I Q. Marcius Rex. 

Progress of the war in the East. Q. Metellus, consul (685) 
attacks the Cretans. 



Chronological Table. 235 

U.C. 687. I rnr,,,jh 1 ^- Calpurnius Piso. 
B.C. 67. 1 ^(^^^^^^ \ M. ACILIUS Glabrio. 

Mutiny in the army of Lucullus. Successes of Mithridates. 
Pompeius appointed to command against the Cilician pirates (lex 
Gabinia), Metellus finishes the war in Crete and obtains the sur- 
name of Creticus. Caesar quaestor in Spain. 



U.C. 688. \ rr,«c^jr 1 ^- -^MILIUS Lepidus. 
B.C. 66. ; ^^^^^^^ I L. VOLCATIUS TULLUS. 

Ponipeius appointed to the command against Mithridates (lex 
Manilia). Cicero praetor. 



^ / > L. AURELIUS COTTA. 

Consuls 



\ 

I M. LiciNius Crassus Dives. 



U.C. 689. ) ^" j L. Manlius Torquatus. 

B.C. 65. J ^ f Q. LUTATIUS CATULUS 

•^ ■' Censors J ^ 



Campaign of Pompeius against the Albani and Iberi. Abortive 
schemes of Catilina. Caesar aedile. Birth of the poet Horace. 



U.C. 690. \ ^ / J L. Julius C^sar. 
B.C. 64. J ^^^•^^^•» I c. Marcius Figulus. 

Pompeius annexes Syria as a province. Cicero a candidate for 
the consulship, together w^ith Catilina. 



U.C. 691.1 ^ r f M 

^ ^ 2 r Consuls \ ^ 
B.C. 63. j I C 



M. TuLLius Cicero. 
Antonius. 



Death of Mithridates. Pompeius subdues Palestine and Phoe- 
nicia. The conspiracy of Catilina defeated by Cicero, and his 
associates put to death. Birth of C. Octavius, afterwards the 
Emperor Augustus. 

U.C. 692. \ ^ 7 / D. Junius Silanus. 

B.C. 62. I ^^'^•^^"•^ } L. LiCINIUS MURENA. 

Defeat and death of Catilina. Caesar praetor and pontifex 
maximus. Cato tribune. 



236 Chronological Table, 

u.c. 693. ■) ^ ^ f M. Pupius Piso. 

B.C. 61. I ^^'""^-^ I M. Valerius Messala. 

Pompeius returns to Rome and triumphs. Process and acquittal 
of Clodius. 

U.C. 694. \ ^ J I L. Afranius. 

B.C. 60. J ^"'^^^'-^ Iq. C/ECiliusMetellusCeler. 

Caesar propraetor in Further Spain. The senate refuses to 
ratify the acts of Pompeius. Agrarian measure of the tribune 
Flavins. Disturbances in the city. Pompeius, Caesar, and Crassus 
form an alhance ; the First Triumvirate. 

U.C. 695. \ ^ / J ^- Julius C/Esar. 

B.C. 59. J ^^'""^ I M. CaLPURNIUS BIBULUS. 

The leges Julias : i. for relief of the publicani in Asia ; 2. for 
division of lands in Campania. Acts of Pompems confirmed 
through Caesar's influence. The Gaulish and lUyricum assigned 
provinces to Caesar. Birth of the historian Livy. 



6g6. \ ^ 7 f L- Calpurni 
58. } '^^'""^■^ i A. Gabinius. 



u.c. 696. 1 ^_ ,. f L. Calpurnius Piso. 

B.C. 



Caesar proconsul in Gaul. First year of the Gallic war. Defeat 
of the Helvetii and Suevi. Tribunate of Clodius. Banishment of 
Cicero. Cato sent to Cyprus. 



U.C. 697. \ ^ J \ P.Cornelius Lentulus Spinther. 
B.C. 57. J ^^"-^"^-^ j Q. C^CILIUS Metellus Nepos. 

Second year of the Gallic war. Coesar subdues the Belgian tribes. 
Victory over the Nervii. Cicero recalled from banishment. 



U.C. 698. ) ^ / J C- Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus. 
B.C. 56.} ^^^^^^ i L. Marcius Philippus. 

Third year of the Gallic war. Cassar subdues the Veneti. 
Subjugation of the west and south of Gaul. The triumvirs meet 
at the end of the year at Lucca. Cato returns from Cyprus. 



Chronological Table. 237 



i~ r \ Cn, Pompeius Magnus II. 
u.c 699. [ ^^'^•^^^•^ \ M. LiCINIUS Crassus II. 



B.C. 55. I ^ j M. Valerius Messala. 

i^ensors | p_ Servilius Isauricus, 

Fourth year of the GaUic war. Caesar crosses the Rhine and 
invades Britain. Gabinius restores Ptolemaeus Auletes to the 
throne of Egypt. Pompeius completes and dedicates his theatre 
at Rome. 



u.c. 700.) ^.„„./. f L. DOMITIUS Ahenobarbus. 

B.C. 54. J ^^^^^^^ \ app. Claudius Pulcher. 

Fifth year of the GaUic war. Csesar's second invasion of Bri- 
tain. Revolt of the Belgian tribes ; destruction of Sabmus and 
Cotta with their armies. Crassus proconsul in Syria. Process of 
Gabinius. Death of Julia. Cato praetor. 



U.C. 701. \ f. J { Cn. Domitius Calvinus. 
B.C. S3. J ^°^^'^''^ \ M. Valerius Messala. 

Sixth year of the Gallic war. Campaign in Belgica and destruc- 
tion of the Eburones. Expedition of Crassus against the Par- 
thians. Battle of Carrhge. His defeat and death. 



^Cn. Pompeius Magnus III. 
U.C. 702, "I ^ J \ (without a colleague). 
B.C. 52. J ^'^^^^^^ 1 Q. C^CIL MeTELLUS PIUS ScIPIO 

'^ (in the last half of the year). 

Seventh year of the Gallic war. Revolt of the Gauls under Ver- 
cingetorix. Battle of Alesia. Clodius assassinated. Process of 
Milo. Death of the poet Lucretius. 



U.C. 703. ) ^ , f SERV. SULPICIUS RUFUS. 

B.C. 51. 1 ^^"^^^^ I M. Claudius Marcellus. 

Eighth year of the Gallic war. Final pacification of Gaul. 
Cicero proconsul in Cilicia. 



2^8 Chronological Table. 



^ / j L. ^MiLius Paulus. 
Consuls I ^^ Claudius Marcellus. 
B c. \o. X ^ ( App. Claudius Pulcher. 

J Censors | ^ Calpurnius Piso. 



u.c. 704. 



Ceesar regulates the province of Gaul. The senate requires him 
to surrender his command. Sickness and recovery of Pompeius. 
Tribunate of Curio ; imminence of civil war. 



U.C. 70 1;. I ^ , f C. Claudius Marcellus. 
B.C. 49. J ^^"-^"^ \ L. Cornelius Lentulus Crus. 
Dictator C. JULIUS C^SAR. 

Outbreak of the civil war. Caesar crosses the Rubicon. Pom- 
peius evacuates Italy. Caesar reduces the legions in Spain and 
takes Massilia. He is created dictator. Defeat and death of 
Curio in Africa. 



U.C. 706. \ ^ / JC. Julius C.^sar II. 
B.C. 48. J ^'^'""^•^ I p. Servilius Isauricus. 

Caesar's campaign in Epirus. Battle of Pharsalia. Flight of Pom- 
peius and his assassination in Egypt. Cassar lands at Alexandria, 
and supports Cleopatra against Ptolemoeus. 



"^■^■707. \ Consuls IQ-FUFIUSCALEXUS. 



B.C. 47. \ """'"" {p. VATINIUS. 

Dictator C. JULIUS C^SAR II. 

Cffisar's warfare at Alexandria. Death of Ptolemaeus. Restora- 
tion of Cleopatra. Ccesar makes war upon Pharnaces. Battle of 
Zela. Caisar returns to Rome, and thence transports his forces 
into Africa. 

Y' 708. I consuis \ £: JV,^'^^' ^-^f ^'^ "^- 
B.C. 46. j » ( M. Amilius Lepidus, 

Dictator C. J U LI US C^SAR III. 
The war in Africa. Battle of Thapsus. Death of Cato at 
Utica. Caesar pursues the younger Cn. Pompeius in Spain. 
CoDsar's legislation at Rome (leges Julice). Correction of tlie 
Calendar. 



Chronological Table. 239 



, ( C. Julius C^sar IV. 

u.c. 709. ( Cqj^suIs \ Q. Fabius Maximus 

B.C. 45. J p rAlSTTTSTTTTC; RkHTT.it 



^ C. Caninius Rebilus. 
Dictator " C. Junus CseSAR IV. 

Defeat and death of Cn. Pompeius. Caesar triumphs. Com- 
plete establishment of his power. First year of the Julian Calendar. 

C. Julius CiiSAR V. 



■) f C. Julius Cm& 

u.c. 710. ] Consuls \ M. Antonius. 
B.C. 44. J j^p_ Cornelius 



Cornelius Dolabella suffect. 
Dictator C. JULIUS CseSAR V. 

Caesar assassinated. Intrigues of Antonius. Disturbances at 
Caesar's funeral. Flight of the Liberators. Octavius assumes 
Caesar's inheritance. Preparations for war. 



U.C. 711. 

B.C. 43. 



' C. ViBIUS Pansa. 
A. HiRTIUS. 

C. Julius C^sar Octavianus (Octavius). 



1 Consuls J C. Julius ( 
f '-°^^^'-^- i Q. pedius. 



C. Carrinas. \ suffect. 
P. Ventidius. 



Cicero's activity at Rome. Battles before Mutina and deaths of 
Hirtius and Pansa. Octavius unites with M. Antonius and Lepi- 
dus. The Second Triumvirate. Proscription and death of Cicero. 



U.C. 712 
B.C. 42 



•\ r 7 I ^^- MUNATIUS Plancus. 

. j ^o^^^'-^- \ M. ^milius Lepidus II. 



Octavius and Antonius encounter the Republicans in the East. 
Battle of Philippi. Death of Brutus and Cassius. 

i( Cn. Domitius Calvinus II. 
Consuls \ ^- AsiNius PoLLio. 
• ] C. Cornelius Balbus ] „„„„_.„„ 
L P. CANIDIUS CrASSUS I SUFFECT. 

Antonius quits Alexandria. Death of Fulvia and treaty of 
Brundisium. Marriage of Antonius with Octavia. The Triumvirs 
make war upon Sextus Pompeius. 



240 Chronological Table 



u.c. 715. \ f~ J J L. Marcius Censorinus. 
B.C. 39. J ^^^-^"^-^ 1 c. Calvisius Sabinus. 

The treaty of Misenum. Octavius and Antonius at Rome. , Oc- 
tavius in Gaul. Antonius at Athens, Ventidius defeats the Par- 

thians. 

U.C. 716. \ - J J App. Claudius Pulcher. 
B.C. 38. I^^^'-^"^-^ 1 C. NorbanusFlaccus. 

The Sicilian war. Antonius in the East. The Triumvirate pro- 
longed. 



J - J (■ M. ViPSANIUS Agrippa. 

■ ■ ' Z^' [ Consuls X L. Caninius Gallus. 

^'' ■' ( T. Statilius Taurus, suffect. 



Continuation of the Sicilian war. Octavius and Antonius meet 
at Tarentum. Navsil force ol Octavius and construction of the 
Portus Julius. 

„ ] r L. GELLIUS POPLICOLA. 

-nr f^ \ Consuls \ L. MUNATIUS PLANCUS, SUFFECT. 

"•^- 30- j (m. COCCEIUS Nerva. 

End of the Sicilian w^ar. Overthrow and flight of Sextus Pom- 
peius. Fall of Lepidus, the triumvir. Disasters of Antonius in 
Parthia. 

U.C. 719. 1 ^ / I L. CORNIFICIUS. 
B.C. 35. J '-^"^"" I Sextus Pompeius (not the son of 
Pompeius Magnus). 

Octavius fights in the Alps and in Illyricum. Sextus Pompeius 
slain in Asia. Antonius resides with Cleopatra at Alexandria. He 
forbids Octavia to come to him. 



L. SCRIBONIUS LiBO. 

, V.......... , M. Antonius II. 

34- J 1^ L SEMPRONIUS ATRATINUS, SUFFECT. 



rr r Ton t f '-"• ^^»<i»»^'i^'i's ^ 

U.C. 720. (^^,,,^,^1^ ) ^i ANTONIUS II. 



Octavius subdues the Dalmatians. Antonius captures Artavasdes, 
king of Armenia, and celebrates a triumph in Alexandria. 



Chronological Table. 241 

y rc. Julius C^sar Octavianus IL 

' \ Consuls X P. AUTRONIUS PCETUS, SUFFECTUS. 
■ •' ( L. VOLCATIUS TULLUS. 



Third campaign of Octavius in Illyricum. Antonius at Alexan- 
dria. 

U.C. 722. j f CN DOMITIUS AHENOBARBUS. 

B.C. 32. J [ C. Sosius. 

Rupture between Octavius and Antonius. Preparation for war. 
Antonius at Samos. • 



C^SAR Octavianus III. 
Valerius Messala Corvinus. 



U.C. 723. ] ^^^^^^^ r C. Julius 
B.C. 31. j ^^'^^^'■^ \ M. Valek 

Battle of Actium. Flight of Antonius and Cleopatra to Egypt. 



U.C. 724. ) (^^^^^. f C. Julius C^sar Octavianus IV. 
B.C. 30. ^ I M. LiCINIUS Crassus. 

Octavius reaches Egypt in pursuit. Death of Antonius and 
Cleopatra. Egypt annexed to the Roman Empire. Undisputed 
ascendency of Octavius. 



INDEX, 



ANT 

ACHILLAS, 147 
Actium, battle of, 225 

^dui, the, 89 

^milius, Paulus, consul with Mar- 
cellus, 112, 162 

Afranius, L., 66, 137, 155 

Agrarian law of Rullus, denounced 
by Cicero, 50 

Agrippa, M., 216, 218 

Ahenobarbus, Domitius, 224 

Alauda, 108 

Alexander the Great, effigy of, 163 

AUobroges, the, 54, 79 

Amatius, death of, 184 

Annius, 14 

Antonius, M., commands against 
pirates in Crete, 28; colleague of 
Cicero, 50 

Antonius, C, brother of last, sent 
against Catilina, 57 

Antonius, Lucius, consul, 216 

Antonius, M., (Triumvir), ruler of 
Italy, 137; crosses the Adriatic, 
141 ; his wealc policy, 149 ; offers 
diadem to Caesar, 171, 172; makes 
his escape during the murder of, 
Caesar, 178 ; seizes on Caesar's 
papers and effects, 179; as consul 
convenes the senate, 179; master 
of Rome, iBi ; makes advances 
to conspirators, 181 ; takes com- 
mand in the city 183; seizes 
Macedonia, 185 ; Cicero declaims 
against him, 188 ; takes the field 
against Decimus Brutus, 194 ; 
defeated at Mutina, 194 ; unites 
with Lepidus and Plancus, 19b, 



BIB 

197; Triumvirate with Lepidus and 
Octavius, 199 ; wins first battle of 
Philippi, 210 ; his share in vlie dis- 
tribution of provinces, 214; con- 
quered by Cleopatra, 215 ; marries 
Octavia, 217; his disastrous cam- 
paigns in the East, 220; amuses 
himself at Alexandria, 221 ; pre- 
p res for war, 222, 225 ; defeated at 
Actium, 229 ; his despair at Alexan- 
dria, 227; kills himself, 229 

Ariobarzarnes, 35, 148 

Ariovistus, Suevi chief, 88 

Aristocracy, Roman, relation of, with 
Sulla, 3 

Armenian war, 21 

Army, growth of a military order, 8 ; 
influence of a standing army, 9 

Arsinoe, sister of Ptolemseus, 161 

Artavasdes, 222 
' rtaxata, siege of, 23 

iirverni, the, 89 

Attains, 35 

Atticus, the Epicurean^ 113 

BATTLES, Actium, 226; Carrhae, 
96 ; Munda, 164 ; Mutina, 195 ; 
Naulochus, 219; Pharsalia, 143; 
Philippi, 210-213; Pistoria, 58; 
Thapsus, 153; Tigranocerta, 22; 
Zela, 148 
Belgic tribes, repulsed by Caesar, 88 
Bibulus, colleague of Caesar, 74 ; his 
violent meisnres in the consulship, 
75 ; supports Pompeius for the con- 
sulship, 100; commander of Pompe- 
ian fleet, 141 



R 



243 



244 



Index, 



CAE 

Britain, invaded by Caesar, 89 

Brundisium, treaty of, 218 

Br.itus, Decimu'^, conspires against 

C»s -r, 172 ; collect's gladiators, 178 ; 

seizes Cisalpine, 178; his flight and 

death, 199 
Brutus. Maicus, 12 ; conspires against 

I aisar, 173 ; occupies JSIacedonia, 

181 ; deprived of Macedonia, 185 ; 

join C assms, 210; defeated at Phil- 

ippi, 2.2 



C-<ELIUS, Rufiis M., favorite of 
Lsesar, 148 
Caesar, C, Julius, 24; leader of the 
Mar ans, 32 ; marries daughter of 
Cinna, 37; ri.-ve of, 37; restores 
trophies of M.irius, 40 ; accusation 
agiinst, 40; his aedilesnip, 40; his ^ 
political impeachments, 41 ; chief' 
poi:tifF, 42; alleged accomplice ol 
Catilina, 54; supports Pompeius, 
59; borrows money of Crassus, 
62 ; divorces his wife, 63 ; in 
his province, the Further Spain, 
67; sues for the consulship, 69; 
'I'riumvirate with Crassus and 
Pompeius, 73 ; his v.ews, 71 ; be- 
comes consul 74; hi> violent 
measures in the consulship, 75 ; 
hi-i favor with the people, 76 ; 
threatened by Clodius, 76 ; am- 
bitious policy of, 77, 78 ; is as- 
signed both GauLs, 79 ; his cam- 
paigns in Gaul, 87-89; invades 
Britain, 89 ; concerts with the 
'J'riumvirs at Lucca, 90 ; his posi- 
tion at this pe.i >d, 95 ; threatened 
with general rising of Gauls, 97 : 
finally conquers G ml, 104 ; or- 
ganizes Gaul, 106 ; his legions in 
(iaul, 107, 108 ; his position as- 
sa'led by the senatorial party, 109 ; 
his enemies urge his recall to 
Rome, 112; his demands, 117; 
decisive action of, 119; the tri- 
bunes flee to his camp, 121 ; ap- 
fcals to arms, 122 ; rivalry with 
'ompeius, 124 ; popularity of, 124 ; 
advances into Italy, 1^3; repairs 
to Rome, 135-138 ; clefeals the 
Pompeia ' forces, 137; dictator, 
139; his fiscal m< asures. i-!9; chief 
measures of his dictatorship, 140 ; 
abdicates his dictatorship, 140 ; 
crosses the Adriatic, 141 ; defeats 



CIC 

Pompeius at Pharsalia, 143 ; es- 
tablishes himself in Alexandria, 
146 ; created dictator for the second 
time, 149 ; third time dicta or, 
150; his victory at Thapsus, 153; 
honors confened upon him in 
Rome, 157; the title of Imper&tor 
prefixed, 158-160 ; celebrates four 
triumphs, i6o, 161 ; defeats the 
Pompeians at Munda, 164; his 
legislative reform?, 166, 167; founds 
colonies, 168; destined htir of, 
170; projects the extension of the 
walls of Rome, 170 ; abortive at- 
tempts to give h m the title of 
king, 171 ; conspi acy against, 
172; assassination of, 175; reflec- 
tions on his character, 176-178 ; bis 
funeral, 181, 182 

Csssario, child of Cleopatra, 168 

Calendar, condition of, in Caesar's 
time, 166 ; reform of, 167 

Culpurnia, consort of Caisar, 174, 179 

Calvinus, consul with Messala, 98 

Camelus, 199 

Canidius, 227 

Carbo, 10 

Carrhae, battle of, 96 

Casca, conspires against Csesar, 172 

Cassius, C, 146; conspires against 
Caesar, 172 ; occupies Syria, 181 ; 
deprived of Syria, 184; in the East, 
206; joins Brutus, 210; his death, 
21 1 

Catilina, L. Sergius, conspiracy of, 
47 ; preparations of, 49 ; conspiracy 
detected, 51 ; driven out of Rome, 
52; the conspirators betrayed and 
arrested, 53 ; sentence against the 
conspirators, 54, 55 ; defeat and 
deatn of, 56, 57 

Cato, M., Porcins, position of, 44 ; 
his influence in the senate, 56; in 
contioversy with Cicero, 58 ; as a 
leader of the nobles, 73 ; sent 
against the king of Cyprus, 83 ; 
opposes Caesar, 94 ; supports Pom- 
peius for the consulship, 100 ; com- 
mands the Pomptians in Africa, 
151 ; kills himself, 155 , his charac- 

tc, 155 

Call lus, Q. Lutatius, leader of sena- 
torial party, 11 ; his accusation 
against Cxsar, 40 

Cethegus, 56 

Cicero, M. Tulhis, orator, charecs 
Verrcs with crime, 24 ; support? 



Index, 



245 



CRA 

Pompeius, 32; position of, 46; 
designs to defend Catalina, 47 ; 
becomes consul, 47 ; denounces 
Agrarian law of KuUus, 49 ; his 
political measures, 51 ; denounc- 8 
Catilina, 52; in controversy with 
Cato, 58; intrigues against, 59, 
60; takes Lis part with the oli- 
garchy, 61 ; as a leader of the 
nobles, 72 ; precarious position of, 
76 ; intrigues of Clodius against, 
8j; banishment of, 81; returns 
from exile, 85; aspirations of, 86; 
joins Pompeius, 91 ; defends Milo, 
102 ; as proconsul of Ciiicia, in ; 
demands an anincity, 180; do- 
claims against Antonius 188; First 
Philippic, 189 ; publishes Second 
Philippic, 193 ; his political activity, 
193 ; his death, 202 ; reflections on 
his death, 204 

Cicero, Q. Tillius, brother of the 
orator, 97; his death, 204 

Cilician pirates, 27 , 

Cirnber, consp res against Caesar, 172 ; 
seizes Bithynia, 181 

Cim' ri, the, 9 

C salpine, province, 79 

Civil wars, causes of, 123 ; preparation 
for, 223 

Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, 147 ; 
wins Cses ir, 147 ; her reception in 
Rome, 166; Ler conquest of An- 
toni s, 215; at the battle of Ac- 
tium, 225 ; endeavours to overcome 
Octav.us, 230; her death, 230 

Clodius, C., praetor, 16 

Clodius, Pulcher, brother-in-law of 
Lucullus, 21 ; profanes the mys- 
teries of the Bona Dea, 63 ; 
threatens Csesar, 76; intrigues of, 
agiin t Cicero, 80; obtains the 
banishment of Cicero, 83 : as tri- 
bune, 84 : put down by the Trium- 
virs, 84 ; his death, 99 

Colonies founded by Caesar, 168 

Conquests of Rome, effects of, 5 

Lorfiiiium, defended against Caesar, 

Cornelian laws, 19 

Cornelius, tribune, 38 

Cotta, consul, 19 

Crassus, P. Licinius, sent against 
Spartacus, 18 ; consul with Pom- 
peius, 25 ; policy of, 44 ; unites 
with Caesar, 62 ; Triumvirate of, 
with Caesar and Pompeius, 70; 



GAU 

views of, 71 ; consul with Pompeius, 
93 ; position of, at this period, 95 ; 
attacks the Parthians. 95 ; proconsul 
in Syria, 95 ; his death, 96 
Crassus, P. Licinius, son of above, 

Cretan brigands, 31 

Curio, M. Scr bonius, 56 ; favorite 
of Caesar, 112 ; baffles the motion 
for Caesar's return, 114; urges Caesar 
to decisive action, 115 : slain in 
Africa, 137 

Cyzicus, siege of, 20 



DEIOTARUS, 35, i4« 
Dolabella, P. Cornelius, son- 
in-law of Cicero, 149, 150; assigned 
Syria, 184 
Dumitius, Ahenobarbus, defends Cor- 
finium against Caesar, 133 ; defeated 
by Caesar, 138; killed at the battle 
of Pharsalia, 144 
Druids, the, 103 



EBURONES, the, 97 
Egypt, Caesar's operations in, 

Eros, 229 



FAVONIUS, 76; opposes Caesar, 
94 

Flavins, 66 

Fonteius, 107 

Forum, Julian, the, 162 

Franchise, results of the extensioa 
of, 6; measures for its extension, 
167 

Fulvia, betrays Catilina, 51 ; her ven- 
geance on Cicero, 203 ; at war with 
Octavius, 216 



GABINIANlaw,29 
Gabinius, tribune, 29 ; his death, 

Gabinius, consul, 80, 84; as proconsul 
of Syria, 93 

Gallic war, sixth year of, 97; seventh 
year of, 102 

Gaul, conquest of, by Caesar, 86 ; re- 
volt in, 97; final conquest of, 104 ; 
organized by Caesar, 106 



246 



Index. 



LUC 

Gracchi, Roman tonsiitution under 

the, 2 
Gregory XIII., pope, 166 



HELVETIT, the, 79 ; repulsed by 
Caesar, 88 
Hirtius, consul, 193 ; takes the field 
against Antonius, 194 : killed at 
Mutina, 195 
Hortensius, 24 
Hypsseus, demands the consulship. 



TBERIANS,the, 14 
X Illy ricum, province of, 79 
Imperator, the title of, 159, 161 
Italy, disturbances in, 148 ; rival forces 
in, 191 



JUBA, Numidian chieftain, 137; 
king of Numidia, 152 ; his death, 

154 
ludicia, the, 7, 25, 26 
Julia, daughter of Caesar, 75 ; her 

death, 94 
Julian Calendar, the, 166 
Julian Forum, the, 162 



LABFRIUS, 162 
Labienus,i04, 131, 153 

Laws, codification of the, 169 

Legion, tenth, mutiny of the, 150 

Legionaries, Roman, character of 
the, 9 

Legions of Csesar in Gaul, 108 

Lentulu'^, M. Cornelius, 50; execution 
of, b6 

Lentulus, P. Cornelius, as a leader of 
the nobles, 73 ; consul, 84 

Lopidus, M. /Emilius, leader of sena- 
torial party, 11 ; consulship of, 22 ; 
his death, 13 

Lepidus, M. /*^milius, son of last, pre- 
fect of the city, 137; proclaims 
Caesar dictator, 139 ; colleague of 
Gaidar, 150; unites with Antonius, 
197 ; Triumvirate with Antonius, 
and Octavius, 199 ; fall of, 219 

Linginus, C. Cassius, 96 

Lucan, his estimate 01 the causes of 
the I ivil war, 123 

Lucca baths of, 92 

Luccciub, 74, 76 



NUM 

Lucullus, L. Licinius, commander in 
the Mithridatic war, 18 ; mi!itar7 
successes of, 20 ; defeats Tigranes, 
21 ; opposes Pompeius, 66 ; as a 
leader of the nobles. 73 

LusitJinians, the, 14 



MAECENAS, Cilnius, 218 
Maenas, 218 
Mallius, 51 
Manilian bill, 32, 80 
Manilius, 32, 38 
Marcellus, M. Claudius, as a leader 

of the nobles, 73 ; consul, 110; his 

consulship, in, 112, 114 
Marcius, Rex, 31, 51 
Marians, the, 12 
jNIasilians, the, 107 
Mauretanians, the, 153 
Messala, consul with Calvinus, 98 ; 

consul with Octavius, 225 
Metellus, L., tribune, 136 
Metellus, Q. Csecilius, commander of 

the SuUaft party, 14; sent against 

Sertorius, 15, 16 
Metellus, Q. Caecilius (C»eficus) 

acquires the siirname of Creticus, 

28, 31 ; as proconsul, 51 : sent 

against Catilina, 57 ; his triumph, 

65 

Metellus, Q. Caecilius (Celer), 41 

Metellus, Q. Caecilius (Nepos), 59, 
60 

Metellus, Scipio, demands the con- 
sulship, 98 ; his exorbitant claims, 
105 ; commands the Pompeians in 
Africa, 151 ; slain at the battle of 
Thapsus, 154 

Military constitution of Rome, 8 

Mile, raises troop of gladiators, 84 ; 
slays Clodins, 99, 100 ; trial of, loi ; 
retires to Marsilia, 102 

Mithridatps, 15 ; deleat of, 20, 21 ; be- 
sieged by LncuUus, 22 ; overthrow 
and death of, 34 

Mithridatic wars, the, 18 ; end of the, 

34 
Monarchy becomes popalar, 125 

Munda, battle of, 164 
Murcr.a, 44, 50, 58 
Mutina, battle of, 195 



NAULOCHUS, battle of, 219 
Nobles, Icadrrs of the, 43, 73 
Nunia, tlio Calendar uf, 164 



Index. 



247 



POM 

OCTAVIA, marries Antonius, 218, 
222 

Octavius, C, son of Atia, Cscsar's 
destined heir, 170 ; arrives in Italy, 
186, assumes Caesar's inheritance, 
187 ; ingratiates himself with the 
soldiers, 191 ; prepares for war in 
Italy, 191 ; defeats Antonius at Mu- 
tina, 196; becomes consul, 197; 
Triumvirate with Lepidus and An- 
tonius, 199 ; defeats Brutus at Phil- 
ippi, 212; his share in the distribu- 
tion of provinces, 214; concerts 
terms with Sextus Pompeius, 219 ; 
marries Livia, 219 ; consul with 
Mes^ala, 225 ; defeats Antonius at 
Actium, 226 ; secures the fruits of 
his victory, 227 ; his interview with 
Cleopatra, 230; the founder of an 
empire, 231 

Optimates, the, 3 



PANSA, consul with Hirtius, 194 ; 
takes the field against Antonius, 
194 ; killed at Mutina, 196 

Parthians, attacked by Crassus, 95 ; 
campaigns of Antonius aga nst, 220 

Pedius, colleague of Octavius, 199; 
his death, 201 

Perperna, 16 

Perseus, death of, 104 

Perusia, war of 217 

Petreius, son of Pompeius, 153; his 
death, 154 

Pharnaces, son of Mithridatcs, rebel- 
lion of, 34 ; defeated by Caesar at 
Zela, 148 

Pharsalia, battle of, 144 

Philippi, first battle of, 210, 211 ; second 
battle of, 212 

Phraates, 33 

Piracy in the Mediterranean, 27 

Pirates, Cilician, 27; overthrow of, 30 

Piso, Calpurnius, comul, 80, 84, 188 

Pistoria, battle of, 58 

Plancu , 192, 196, 197 ; betrays Anto- 
nius, 224 

Pollio, 192 

Porapeia, Caesar's wife, 63 

Pompeians, conquered by Caesar in 
Spain, 137 ; defeated at Pharsalia, 
144 ; transfer their forces to Africa, 
151 ; defeated at Munda, 164 

Pompeius Strabo, Cn., 10 

Pompeius Magnus, son of Pompeius 
Strabo, 10 ; ii sent against Sertonus, 



RUL 

15; defeats Spartacus, 18 : popular- 
ity of, 24 ; consul with Cassius, 25 ; 
predominance of, 26 ; his successes 
against the Cilician pirates, 30 ; in- 
vested with supreme command in 
the East, 31, 35 ; retires from the 
East, 64 ; his triumph, 66 ; becomes 
unpopular with the senate and peo- 
ple, 67 ; Triumvirate with Caesar and 
Crassus, 70 ; views of, 71 ; marries 
Julia, 75; extraordinary commission 
assigned to, 91 ; consul with Crassus, 
93 ; his position at this period, 95 ; 
ascendency of, in the State, 98 ; ap- 
pointed sole consul, 99 ; as sole con- 
sul, loi ; his feeble policy, 104, no, 
III ; his confidence, 114; his illness, 
116; rivalry with Caesar, 124; takes 
up aims, 132; leaves Rome, 133; 
escapes from Italy, 133 ; in the East, 
134 ; conquered in Spain, 137 ; defeat 
at Pharsalia, 144 ; flight and death 
of, 145 

Pompeius, Cnaeus, son of Pompeius 
Magnus, 151 ; defeated at Munda, 
164 

Pompeius Sextus, son of Pompeius 
Magnus, escapes to Spain, 164 ; in 
league with Antonius, 217; his 
death, 219 

Pontius, death of, 104 

Popilius, 203 

Porcia, daughter of Cato, 174 

Pothinus, 147 

Proscriptions, the, 202 

Provincials, enfranchisement of, 6 ; 
Roman j ealousy of, 9 

Ptolemaeus, Auletes, king of Egypt, 93 

Ptolemaeus, Lathy rus, king of Sicily, 

83 
Publican, the, :?i 
Punic wars, result of, 2 

RABIRIUS, senator, impeached 
by Csesar, 41 

Remi, the, 89 

Republic, Roman, working of the 
constitution, i ; end of, 212 

Rome, leaders of the nobles of, 72 ; 
disturbances in the city, 92 ; growth 
of anarchy in, 93 ; troubles at, 149 ; 
Caesar projects the extension of the 
walls, 170; independence of the 
armies in the East, 206; the East 
opposed to the West, 208 

Rubicon, the, 131 

RuUus, 49 



248 



Index. 



SUL 

SALLUST, sentiments conveyed in 
his letters to Caesar, 127 

Samnites, the, 8 

Scipios, Koman constitution under 
the, 2 

Senate, purging of, by the censors, 26 ; 
strengthen ilieir military resources, 
113; vacillation of, 118; measures 
for increasing, 167 

Senatorial party, chiefs of, 11 

Sertorius, Q., career of, 13; his death 
and consequences, 15 

Servile war of Spartacus, 16 

Servilius, obtains the title of Isauricus, 
28 ; consul with Caesar, 140; as con- 
sul, 148, 216 

Sextius, 57 

Silanus, 44, 50, 55, 58 

Social wars, result of, 2 

Sosigenes, astronomer, 166 

Sosius, 223 

Spartacus, Servile war of, 16 ; defeated 
by Pompeius Magnus, 17 

Statilius. 56 

Suetonius, 160 

Suevi, repulsed by Caesar, 88 

Sulla,L. Cornelius, monarchical power 
of, 2 ; his relations with the Roman 
aristocracy, 3 ; abdication of, 3 ; his 
idea of his work, 4 ; results of his 
career, 5 

Siillan laws. 19 

Sulpicius, Servius, 58; consul, 109 



ZEL 

TENTH Legion, meeting of the, 
150 
Teutones, 9 
Thapsus, b.ittle of, 153 
Tigranes III., king of Armenia, 20; 

defeated by Lucullus, 22 ; his powel 

in the East, 22 
Tigranoceria, battle of, 22 
Transalpine province, 79 
Transpadanes, the, 109 
Trebonius, conspires against Caesar, 

172 ; seizes Asia, 181 
Treviri, defeat of, 97 
Triumvirate, first, 70 ; second, 109 ; 

renewal of the, 220 ; expires ana is 

not renewed, 224 



VARRO, defeated by Caesar, 138 
Varus, Pompeian leader, 137 
Vatinius, becomes praetor, 93 
Veneti, routed by Caesar, 89 
Ventiiius, consul, 199, 216 
Verci^getorix, revolt of, 103 ; his 

death, 161 
Verres, praetor of Sicily, 23 ; charged 

with crime by Cicero, 24 
Verrine Orations, the, 25 
Vettius, 61 ; his death, 77 



'EL A, batde of, 148 



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ough command of the complicated theme." — Boston Saturday 
Eveniftg Gazette. 

"The author writes with fairness and discrimination, and 
has given a clear and intelligible presentation of the time." — 
New York Evangelist. 

THE FALL OF THE STUARTS; and Western 
Europe. By Rev. Edward Hale, M.A. 

" A valuable compend to the general reader and scholar." 
— Providence Journal. 

"It will be found of great value. It is a very graphic 
account of the history of Europe during the 17th century, 
and is admirably adapted for the use of students. " — Boston 
Saturday Evening Gazette. 

' 'An admirable handbook for the student. " — The Churchman. 

THE AGE OF ANNE. By Edward E. Morris, xM.A. 

" The author's arrangement of the material is remarkably 
clear, his selection and adjustment of the facts judicious, his 
historical judgment fair and candid, while the style wins by 
its simple elegance." — Chicago Standard. 

"An excellent compendium of the history of an important 
period." — The Watchman. 



EPOCHS OF MODERN HISTORY. 

THE EARLY HANOVERIANS— Europe from 
the Peace of Utrecht to the Peace of Aix- 
la-Chapelle. By Edward E. Morris, M,A. 

" Masterly, condensed, and vigorous, this is one of the 
books which it is a delight to read at odd moments ; which 
are broad and suggestive, and at the same time condensed in 
treatment. " — Christian Advocate. 

" A remarkably clear and readable summary of the salient 
points of interest. The maps and tables, no less than the 
author's style and treatment of the subject, entitle the volume 
to the highest claims of recognition." — Boston Daily Ad- 
vertiser. 

FREDERICK THE GREAT, AND THE SEVEN 
YEARS' WAR. By F. W. Longman. 

" The subject is most important, and the author has treated 
it in a way which is both scholarly and entertaining." — The 
Churchman. 

"Admirably adapted to interest school boys, and older 
heads will find it pleasant reading." — New York Tribune. 

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, AND FIRST 
EMPIRE. By William O'Connor Morris. With 
Appendix by Andrew D. White, LL.D., ex-President of 
Cornell University. 

"We have long needed a simple compendium of this period, 
and we have here one which is brief enough to be easily run 
through with, and yet particular enough to make entertaining 
reading." — New York Evening Post. 

*' The author has well accomplished his difficult task of 
sketching in miniature the grand and crowded drama of the 
French Revolution and the Napoleonic Empire, showing 
himself to be no servile compiler, but capable of judicious 
and independent criticism." — Springfield Republican. 

THE EPOCH OF REFORM— 1830-1850. By 

Justin McCarthy, 

" Mr. McCarthy knows the period of which he writes 
thoroughly, and the result is a narrative that is at once enter- 
taining and trustworthy." — New York Examiner. 

" The narrative is clear and comprehensive, and told with 
abundant knowledge and grasp of the subject." — Boston 
Courier. 



IMPORTANT HISTORICAL 
WORKS. 

THE DAWN OF HISTORY. An Introduction 

to Pre-Historic Study. New and Enlarged Edition. 
Edited by C. F. Keary. i2mo, cloth, $1.25. 

This work treats successively of the earliest traces of man ; 
of language, its growth, and the story it tells of the pre-his- 
toricusersof it ; of early social life, the religions, mythologies, 
and folk-tales, and of the history of writing. The present 
edition contains about one hundred pages of new matter, 
embodying the results of the latest researches, 

"A fascinating manual. In its way, the work is a model 
of what a popular scientific work should be." — Boston Sat. 
Eve. Gazette. 

THE ORIGIN OF NATIONS. By Professor George 
Rawlinson, M.A. i2mo, with maps, $1.00. 

The first part of this book discusses the antiquity of civiliza- 
tion in Egypt and the other early nations of the East. The 
second part is an examination of the ethnology of Genesis, 
showing its accordance with the latest results of modem 
ethnographical science. 

' ' A work of genuine scholarly excellence, and a useful 
offset to a great deal of the superficial current literature on 
such subjects. " — Congregationalist. 

MANUAL OF MYTHOLOGY. For the Use 
of Schools, Art Students, and General 
Readers. Founded on the Works of Pet- 
iscus, Preller, and Welcker. By Alexander 
S. Murray, Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, 
British Museum. With 45 Plates. Reprinted from the 
Second Revised London Edition. Crown Svo, $1.75. 

'• It has been acknowledged the best work on the subject 
to be found in a concise form, and as it embodies the results 
of the latest researches and discoveries in ancient mythologies, 
it is superior for school and general purposes as a handbook 
to any of the so-called standard works." — Cleveland Herald. 

" Whether as a manual for reference, a text-book for school 
use, or for the general reader, the book will be found very 
valuable and interesting." — Boston Journal. 



IMPORTANT HISTORICAL WORKS. 

THE HISTORY OF ROME, from the Earliest 
Time to the Period of Its Decline. By Dr. 

Theodor Mommsen. Translated by W. P. Dickson, D.D., 
LL.D. Reprinted from the Revised London Edition. Four 
volumes, crown 8vo. Price per set, $8.00. 

**A work of the very highest merit; its learning is exact 
and profound ; its narrative full of genius and skill ; its 
descriptions of men are admirably vivid." — London Times. 

* ' Since the days of Niebuhr, no work on Roman History 
has appeared that combines so much to attract, instruct, and 
charm the reader. Its style — a rare quality in a German 
author — is vigorous, spirited, and animated." — Dr. Schmitz. 

THE PROVINCES OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 
From Caesar to Diocletian. By Theodor 
Mommsen. Translated by William P, Dickson, D.D., 
LL.D. With maps. Two vols., 8vo, $6.00. 

" The author draws the wonderfully rich and varied picture 
of the conquest and administration of that great circle of 
peoples and lands which formed the empire of Rome outside 
of Italy, their agriculture, trade, and manufactures, their 
artistic and scientific life, through all degrees of civilization, 
with such detail and completeness as could have come from 
no other hand than that of this great master of historical re- 
search." — Prof. W. A. Packard, Princeton College. 

THE HISTORY OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC. 

Abridged from the History by Professor Theodor Mommsen, 
by C. Bryans and F. J. R. Hendy. i2mo, $1.75. 

" It is a genuine boon that the essential parts of Mommsen's 
Rome are thus brought within the easy reach of all, and the 
abridgment seems to me to preserve unusually well the glow 
and movement of the original." — Prof. Tracy Peck, Yale 
University. 

"The condensation has been accurately and judiciously 
effected. I heartily commend the volume as the most adequate 
embodiment, in a single volume, of the main results of modem 
historical research in the field of Roman affairs," — Prof. 
Henry M. Baird, University of City of New York. 



IMPORTANT HISTORICAL WORKS. 

THE HISTORY OF GREECE. By Prof. Dr. 
Ernst Curtius. Translated by Adolphus William Ward, 
M.A., Fellow of St. Peter's College, Cambridge, Prof, of 
History in Owen's College, Manchester. Five volumes, 
crown 8vo. Price per set, $10.00. 

" We cannot express our opinion of Dr. Curtius' book bet- 
ter than by saying that it may be fitly ranked with Theodor 
Mommsen's great work." — London Spectator. 

"As an introduction to the study of Grecian history, no 
previous work is comparable to the present for vivacity and 
picturesque beauty, while in sound learning and accuracy of 
statement it is not inferior to the elaborate productions which 
enrich the literature of the age." — N. Y. Daily I'ribune. 

C>^SAR: a Sketch. By James Anthony Froude, 
M.A. i2mo, gilt top, $1.50. 

" This book is a most fascinating biography and is by far 
the best account of Julius Caesar to be found in the English 
language." — The London Standard. 

"He combines into a compact and nervous narrative all 
that is known of the personal, social, political, and military 
life of Caesar ; and with his sketch of Caesar includes other 
brilliant sketches of the great man, his friends, or rivals, 
who contemporaneously with him formed the principal figures 
in the Roman world." — Harper's Monthly. 

CICERO. Life of Marcus Tullius Cicero. By 

William Forsyth, M.A., Q.C. 20 Engravings. New 

Edition. 2 vols., crown 8vo, in one, gilt top, $2.50. 

The author has not only given us the most complete and 
well-balanced account of the life of Cicero ever published ; 
he has drawn an accurate and graphic picture of domestic life 
among the best classes of the Romans, one which the reader 
of general literature, as well as the student, may peruse with 
pleasure and profit, 

"A scholar without pedantry, and a Christian without cant, 
Mr. Forsyth seems to have seized with praiseworthy tact the 
precise attitude which it behooves a biographer to take when 
narrating the life, the personal life of Cicero. Mr. Forsyth 
produces what we venture to say will become one of the 
classics of English biographical literature, and will be wel- 
comed by readers of all ages and both sexes, of all professions 
and of no profession at all." — London Quarterly. 



VALUABLE WORKS ON 
CLASSICAL LITERATURE. 

THE HISTORY OF ROMAN LITERATURE. 
From the Earliest Period to the Death of 

Marcus AureliuS. With Chronological Tables, etc., 
for the use of Students. By C. T. Cruttwell, M.A. Crown 
8vo, $2.50. 

Mr. Cruttwell's book is written throughout from a purely 
literary point of view, and the aim has been to avoid tedious 
and trivial details. The result is a volume not only suited 
for the student, but remarkably readable for all who possess 
any interest in the subject. 

" Mr. Cruttwell has given us a genuine history of Roman 
literature, not merely a descriptive list of authors and their 
productions, but a well elaborated portrayal of the successive 
stages in the intellectual development of the Romans and the 
various forms of expression which these took in literature." — 
N. Y. Nation. 

UNIFORM WITH THE ABOVE. 

A HISTORY OF GREEK LITERATURE. 
From the Earliest Period of Demosthenes. 

By Frank Byron Jevons, M.A., Tutor in the University 
of Durham. Crown 8vo, $2.50. 

The author goes into detail with sufficient fullness to make 
the history complete, but he never loses sight of the com- 
manding lines along which the Greek mind moved, and a 
clear understanding of which is necessary to every intelligent 
student of universal literature. 

" It is beyond all question the best history of Greek litera- 
ture that has hitherto been published." — London Spectator. 

' ' With such a book as this within reach there is no reason 
why any intelligent English reader may not get a thorough 
and comprehensive insight into the spirit of Greek literature, 
of its historic development, and of its successive and chief 
masterpieces, which are here so finely characterized, analyzed, 
and criticised." — Chicago Advance. 



TRANSLATIONS OF PLATO. 

THE DIALOGUES OF PLATO. Translated 
into English, with Analysis and introduc- 
tions. By B. JowETT, M.A., Master of Balliol College, 
Oxford. Anew and cheaper edition. Four vols., crown 8vo, 
per set, $8.00. 

" The present work of Professor Jowett will be welcomed 
with profound interest, as the only adequate endeavor to 
transport the most precious monument of Grecian thought 
among the familiar treasures of English literature. The 
noble reputation of Professor Jowett, both as a thinker and a 
scholar, is a valid guaranty for the excellence of his perfor- 
mance." — New York Tribune. 

SOCRATES. A Translation of the Apology, 
Crito, and parts of the Phaedo of Plato. 

Containing the Defence of Socrates at his Trial, his Conver- 
sation in Prison, with his Thoughts on the Future Life, and 
an Account of his Death. With an Introduction by Professor 
W. W. Goodwin, of Harvard College. i2mo, cloth, $1.00; 
paper, 50 cents. 

TALKS WITH SOCRATES ABOUT LIFE. 
Translations from the Gorgias and the 

Republic of Plato. i2mo, cloth, li.oo; paper, 50 
cents. 

A DAY IN ATHENS WITH SOCRATES. 
Translations from the Protagoras and the 

Republic of Plato. Being conversations between 
Socrates and other Greeks on Virtue and Justice. i2mo, 
cloth, $1.00 ; paper, 50 cents. 

" Eminent scholars, men of much Latin and more Greek, 
attest the skill and truth with which the versions are made ; 
we can confidently speak of their English grace and clearness. 
They seem a ' model of style,' because they are without 
manner and perfectly simple." — W. D. Howf.lls. 

"We do not remember any translation of a Greek author 
which is a better specimen of idiomatic English than this, or 
a more faithful rendering of the real spirit of the original 
into English as good and as simple as the Greek." — New York 
Evening Post. 



CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, 

743 and 745 Broadway, New York. 



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